


This is NOT the greatest plan

by FuchsiaPaper



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Attempted Kidnapping, Bondage, Bottom Henry, CCC - Freeform, Charles literally has no sense of self preservation, Comedy, Crack, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Henry Stickmin Knows about Alternate Timelines, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, Humor, Idiots in Love, JUST, Kidnapping, Little bit of angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Poor henry smh, Post-Triple Threat Ending | TT (Henry Stickmin), Romantic Comedy, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin, Self-Sacrifice, Smut, Stress, This is the greatest plaaaaaaan, Top Charles, Triple Threat Ending | TT (Henry Stickmin), Ugh, actually no poor ellie, alright there ended up being a lot more angst than I thought lol, and, and it is causing Henry, but donworry, but it's like super sweet, everything, i love how that's a tag, i love them, i've rlly gone off the rails with this one, jealous Henry, just because I said so, oof wow a torture scene huh, she has to watch these two mfs dance around each other like its contemporary art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:34:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 74,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27653480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuchsiaPaper/pseuds/FuchsiaPaper
Summary: Charles has absolutely zero sense of self preservation and that causes Henry Stickmin much grief and exasperation.Only person who might be slightly more exasperated is Ellie, who has to watch these two oblivious morons pine after each other, bless her and her infinite patience.ORTriple Threat just be vibing it up, till Charles gets kidnapped :/Angst ensues ;)
Relationships: Burt Curtis/Sven Svensson, Charles Calvin & Ellie Rose & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Dave Panpa/Rupert Price, Ellie Rose/Dr. Vinschpinsilstien (Henry Stickmin), Reginald Copperbottom/Right Hand Man
Comments: 174
Kudos: 327





	1. here we go here we go here we gooo

After having seen what there is to see and gone through nearly every death possible, Henry Stickmin had a choice to make (according to that obnoxious omnipotent voice in his head).  
  
Pick only ONE timeline, and resume on forever without any multiverse doohicky powers of any kin-

Oh. Oh, yep, he already picked one. That was fast. Ah yes, right. Triple Threat. Of course. Should've seen that one coming.  
  
Leaving off right where the team sent the entirety of the Toppat Clan into the depths of the Wall (Henry was still smug about that) Charles had to report their mission to General Galeforce while Ellie and Henry stood nearby.

Throughout the whole helicopter ride back to their base, and while the General handed out his praises to the three of them, Henry still wasn't getting over how it was finally over.

All his fails, redos, and naggingly sarcastic god laughing over him--it was finally going to be gone. No more second chances, he was actually going to have to live his life with consequence again.  
He couldn't tell you what made this bizarre power come into his life to begin with, or why it chose to help him while he was in the West Mesa Penitentiary. All he knows is that it saved his butt more times than he could count, and he owed pretty much everything to it.

Despite only having the power for (technically) a short amount of time, he felt like it lasted damn near forever. But he knew it had to end at some point.  
He knew it when the voice introduced to him this weird concept of combining different timelines he left off, and he knew it, somehow, when he left the cliffside Charles' gravestone was on and--

Henry decided to quickly focus back to the General's spiel. Something about making them into a team of special covert ops agents? Sweet. Fantastic actually.

He wasn't going to go in depth into the less-than-pleasant memories, but when Henry saw that fiery explosion in space, he knew. He just knew deep down, even though he didn't really keep track, that it was the last combination needed to complete all of them.

"You hear that Henry?" He blinked, looking up to both Ellie's smirk and Charles' sunshine of a smile.

Henry brought a thumbs up with a grin of his own.

"Sounds pretty good to me." Ellie shrugged. "I never really cared what side I was on, so long as I could do what I want."

The General looked a bit wary. "And what may that be?"

"Eh, I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie, but I don't mind luxury y'know? In order to have that I'd need money which... well, I'm guessing we'll get?" Henry nodded rapidly. Sure, they were both thieves and wanted money, but money was really just a mode for them to live the good life. Give em that, and they were sure to be... more or less law-abiding citizens. Though, Henry wasn't sure if Ellie had the same penchant for shiny jewels like he did..

"Yes yes, don't worry. You'll all be paid your due salary. In the beginning, it may not be as much as, say, Charlie over here. He has been in the army for a while." A quick flash of a sheepish smile from said man, which made Henry maybe melt just a _little bit_.  
"But the more you prove yourself, the closer you'll get to an optimal salary for a covert ops agent."

"And that would beee?" Ellie leaned in.  
  
General smacked his lips. "Highest would probably be around 300k, but with what spectacular work you've been doing, I could see that getting pushed."

To say Ellie had sweet dolla dolla bills in her eyes would be an understatement. As for Henry, while he knew that he could get a lot more in his other not-so-legal routes, he wouldn't change his ending for the world. He didn't have a lot of close friends before the voice barged into his life, and a 300k salary to work with his two newest and closest pals? Fuck yeah.

"Well, I'm sold." Ellie looked to Henry. "What about you?" Henry gave his best "I'm in" face.

"Awesome!" Charles threw his arms up and wrapped them around the two. "Oh man, we're gonna make such a great team. Glad you guys are officially in with me now."

"Hey, it was fun." Ellie waved a hand. "And it's nice not having to change states every two months. So, where we staying now? My home is a little... uh, burnt up at the moment."

Henry cocked his head. He'd been so used to redoing every single option to suck every bit of information out of everyone (was that considered stalkerish now that he can't do that anymore? he was just curious but, most stalkers are) that now it was a surprise to get new info. He never did find out what Ellie did to get herself landed at the Wall. Though, he supposed that wasn't too important for him to find out.

"Yeah, we know." The General sighed. "Before anyone asks, yes, you all are pardoned for your work. But don't let me catch you committing any more acts of arson Miss Rose."

She looked only a little embarrassed. Galeforce continued.

"And you'll be stationed across our different bases, depending on where you're needed. But in America you'll have a permanent fixture you can call home if you want. Or you could just spend money on a house somewhere else, up to you."

"Nice." Ellie stifled a yawn. "Well, I dunno about you boys, but I'm dog tired. Mind showing us where we're staying tonight?"

"Oh!" Charles perked. "I could show you guys. I was thinking those empty rooms in the same building where I'm currently at?"

The General nodded. "That'll do just fine."

"And uh, you guys got anything you wanna pick up to move in or..?" Charles trailed off. Ellie merely rose a brow. "Right right. Smoke and ashes. How about you Henry?"

Henry thought of his damp and pathetic excuse of an apartment, moldy blue curtains and all, and then thought it no more. He shook his head.

"Oh well, alright. Cool. Thanks General, we'll be off now then!"

"See you all in the morning, 0600 hours for you Charlie." He gave a salute, then walked out of the conference room.

Henry only let his bubbling excitement inside show once they reached the living quarters and Charles dropped the two off at their room.

"Whoa, looks like someone's in a good mood." Ellie commented on his celebratory fist pump as she rummaged through the kitchen. Good idea, Henry noted, and he joined in her hunt. He found a few cinnamon muffins and plopped on the flat couch to get to munching.

He never talked much beforehand, due to having pretty much no close friends and not caring enough to do so in most of his timeline shenaniganry. But he figured he could loosen up now.

"I like our situation now." Henry muttered.

"Yeah, me too." Ellie found a banana and some cookies. Henry tried to nab one of the cookies, but she was too fast. "Get your own."

He stuck out his tongue, but laughed when she started. Breathing out a content sigh, he was pretty satisfied with his choice. What could be better? There were meh timelines, but there were also certainly some bad ones, like the Toppat Civil Warfare one, Revenged, Valia-

Nah, no, skip. Only good thoughts right now. Sure, there may have been other decent endings, but nothing could top the one where he gets to have both financial stability AND Ellie and Charles.  
Nothing but smooth sailing from here on out, he was sure.

What could possibly go wrong?

...

Fuckity, he shouldn't have thought that.


	2. poor henry lol

Henry wasn't sure if he could handle this anymore. It had been just three months, and already he is positively WRECKED. Mostly for two reasons.

One: Charles.

Just... Charles.

He knew he had always liked Charles, maybe a bit more than he should've. And how could he not? The man was near impossible to dislike, something Ellie had remarked annoyedly on a couple times.  
He had also liked Ellie at some point, but after having her shoot him through the thigh with a genuine intent to kill him, that may have fizzled out one way or another (he still shudders whenever he gets a glimpse of THAT ending in his dreams). He figured they'd make off better as a team than a couple anyway.  
Still, it hadn't stopped his admiration for her and her badass tendencies.

Over the months, after having been transported to their actual permanent fixture in one of the larger American bases, the General thought it'd be a great idea to have all three of them share it.  
It's not exactly like they were all crammed into one sardine can, the place was actually very spacious, almost luxurious in a hotel-like sort of way. It could afford its niceties, being close to the Big House and all. Going into the living spaces there was a fairly large kitchen off to one side, and multiple hallways opposing it leading to bathrooms, a laundry place, and three bedrooms.

They had plenty of privacy and space apart.

But that wasn't the issue.

The issue was seeing nearly every intimate aspect of a homey Charles EVERY GODDAMN MORNING.  
  
His curly bed hair?  
Mumbling morning voice??  
Him in a towel after showering- _are you shitting me???_

That was number one.

Number two: Charles.

Just... good god Charles.

"Does he have no sense of preservation?!" Henry recounted to Ellie once, after a brief but blastacular mission where Charles decided that it'd be a good idea to _fling himself off the helicopter with no parachute._

"Nope." Both Ellie and Charles had replied.

Henry thought that it'd just be the odd one mission or two, maybe, where Charles would be a self-sacrificial _idiot_ \--"In my defense, I knew you guys would catch me!"--but no. Ohhh no. This was apparently a _weekly_ thing of his.

"He's a fine soldier, but he does have a tendency to... uh, indulge himself." Galeforce had said in response to Henry dying wish to know _why please why is he this way._  
"He usually has a plan for these sort of things, but he also usually gets hurt in some way." He chuckled with a shake of his head. Why was he chuckling. Charles getting hurt? -10 stars out of 10 comedy.

And he does want to, very badly, have a sitdown with Charles to make him understand why his antics are _incredibly_ bad for his heart, but... what was he supposed to say?

"Hey Charles, maybe stop putting yourself in danger every two seconds? Because you are very valuable to me?? And hell I just might wanna fucking kiss you before we all die???"

Well, he technically did say something along those lines to him before (minus the aching love confession). And Charles had only shrugged in that signature Charles way of his and said, "Well, I mean, you guys are risking your lives out there too right?"

Which, sure, he wasn't _wrong._ But they were CAREFUL. Henry especially more than ever, since he doesn't have any redos anymore. And Ellie, well, she's a normal human without any powers to make her feel risky enough to do dangerously stupid actions (alright, so she's got the force and stuff, but she rarely ever uses it, even in missions). He's toned it down with the carelessness, which Charles seemingly CAN'T do for some reason.

Point is. He was stressed.

"I don't see why you're so upset." Ellie said to him after sidling into their cafeteria table, mouthful of apple and all. They were now stationed in one of their temporary bases. A smaller, standard one, so they had to separate into barracks for boys and girls. Suffice to say, closer quarters with Charles was the last thing he needed right now.  
"He hasn't seriously gotten hurt or anything. We've saved his ass as many times as he saved ours."

All Henry could respond with was a "hhgbrghfbh" as he grumbled into the sticky table beneath. Ellie snickered. "Relax. Y'know, maybe if you finally told him about your crush on him, he'd take his safety a bit more seriously and-"

In order to stop himself from tackling her to the ground, he instead redirected his hands to the table and gawked at her. Thankfully, the cafeteria was too noisy for anyone to really care for the sudden slam.

"What? You think I didn't notice?" Ellie was incredulous. "You're kidding. It's SO obvious I-"

Henry tried to muffle her mouth, but she wasn't having any of it. She flagged down several fellow soldiers Henry mostly recognized. There was Amber Downs, Liam Rogers (he tried not to wince upon remembering how he threw him out a helicopter in some timeline. That was one bad and awkward effect from his previous power; seeing all the people he was against in another life), and... a couple nameless folks. Oh wait, was that Rupert? Darn.

"Guys, you all know Henry has a big fat crush on Charles right?" Henry could've strangled her then and there, but that would be generally frowned upon, so he hunkered down instead to hide his reddening face.

"Yep."

"Oh yeah."

"Mhm."

"No doubt about it."

"Yea."

Every confirmation only hurtled him closer to setting his entire body aflame.

"See? Told you. Everyone already knows. Well, except Charles."

"He's a dolt." Liam chuckled fondly. "But he's a fine flyer of a dolt. I'm pretty experienced in flying helicopters, but he's gotten to a point where he finds it like riding a merry-go-round."

Henry raised a brow.

"Smooth and boring. Likes to shake things up a bit."

"Tell me about it." Henry grumbled.

Ellie chatted with a few for a bit longer, but Henry could feel two trained eyes on his neck. He turned and looked up at Rupert. Oop.  
Henry wasn't sure if he could ever get Rupert to forgive him for.. kindasorta causing his partner to get fired. What was his name--Dave? He wasn't sure if the guy got off the airship after they were arrested, or if they moved him somewhere else. Come to think of it, how the hell did he get on there to begin with?

"Listen, I don't like you, so I couldn't care less what you get up to in your spare time. But from my short time here I know Charles is a good man, so don't make him miserable." If Henry felt a bit more ballsy, he would've let himself show far more offense, maybe stand up eye to eye with him too. Make Charles miserable? That was a crime in itself.  
And okay, Henry technically was a criminal before, but emphasis on the word "was"!

But since Henry couldn't merely retry after getting into trouble, he only raised two hands to back up.

"Jeez Price, leave him alone." June--or was it July? He always forgot--slapped Rupert on the arm. "I'm sure they'd make a great couple." Ah, right, back to simmering on the bench like a cherry on fire. Some of them laughed, the bastards. They were all just about to leave though, when-

"Guys! How's it going?" Henry froze. Really? Now? He was starting to think that voice was still somehow controlling his life events to make it as mortifying as possible.

"Hey Charles." Ellie beckoned him to sit beside Henry. Damn you and thank you.

"What's with the crowd? Am I missing any story?"

Henry tensed, thinking one of them might actually spill, but surprisingly, nobody did. Guess they're not all bastards.

Ellie answered, "Oh nah, just catching up on their next transfers. Speaking of, has the General told you yet where we're going next? I thought he mentioned something about Canada last briefing."

The gathered soldiers eventually left, a few quirking their eyes at Henry. He mock threw a half-eaten sandwich at them.

"Aah right, yea, the General actually said something came up? And he wanted us to convene for a meeting after lunch. Seemed pretty serious."

"Huh, interesting." Ellie finished off her apple. "Well, I'm ready to go. You?"

Henry pushed his half full tray away, lifting one shoulder.

"Aw no, you should eat! There's no rush." Stupid sparkly eyes making him sit back down and finish off his stupid sandwich, christ he was weak.

"Alright, guess we're ready to go." Charles led the way, as Ellie trailed back to elbow Henry in the ribs.

"Simp."

Henry couldn't really refute that, so he tripped her instead.

Charles looked on in bewilderment as Henry zoomed past him, followed by a chasing Ellie waving her shoe in hand.


	3. oofity oof yall

_A heart attack_ , Henry thought. _I am going to have a heart attack._

Their last mission was grueling. Mainly because the General figured to offer some extra backup, which the Triple Threat (Henry worked _hard_ to make that their official name) did NOT need thank you. He was perfectly content to keep it as is: Charles goofing off at the front seat with Ellie making a mess of the helicopter digging through their weapon stash; all of it. All of them.

To his surprise, Charles and Ellie did get along fairly well together. Probably because he still didn't talk too much, so they'd have to mostly speak with each other, but still. Their chemistry overall was on point.  
So there was NO need at all to put an entire squad under their charge for what would've been a quick and easy mission. No need at all.  
  
And sure, he put forth plans every now and again. In fact, he was the one who usually did in the Triple Threat, frequently followed by an assist from Ellie or Charles. Though, he'd mostly either collab with Ellie in the beginning, or just go with whatever precept Charles laid out first.  
  
But to do it constantly for 10+ people throughout a whole mission?  
Nahhh, no thank you.

Not to mention, he liked making things up as he goes. In the military, at least outside their Triple Threat sector, that sort of stuff doesn't typically fly over very well. Plans A to zebra Z was more like it.  
Henry had to talk to all of them while Charles flew and Ellie busied herself with literally anything else (thanks a lot Rose), and then excruciatingly came up with a plan of action for ALL of them.

It's not like they were bad or anything, it was just... a lot. He liked keeping it simple with the Triple Threat and, well, they just _clicked._ Charles and Ellie could pick up Henry's nuances perfectly and he barely had to even talk if he didn't feel like it. Charles oft did most of the chatting, Ellie was the check to that, and Henry could relax and pitch in whenever he felt necessary.  
It was perfect.

...He was gonna have to tell the General about this too. Ugh.

But back to his heart attack. Yes, the large backup team complicated some things, but they weren't the main source of his predicament.

Charles was in the hospital.

"It's a CLINIC." Ellie yelled for the fifth time today, but what was that noise? Charles got hurt and that's all that mattered.

Henry and Ellie got cornered, and while Ellie looked for a way out, Henry was busy listening in to all the other soldiers on his mic. Lots of things were said, too many, and it almost overwhelmed him.  
  
Thankfully, Charles came in with peculiarly perfect timing to help bail them out. Unthankfully, he _leapt_ from the third floor or something to crash down into the first guard right as he discovered them. Then he was shot at--fucking shot at--as he gunned the rest down.  
His pained expression at being hit in the shoulder, then being knocked back to the wall and hitting his head on some sort of random gold-coated decor... it was like Henry was frozen in time. He couldn't move, couldn't protect him, couldn't nothing.  
No Ctrl-Z powers.

Charles offered him a hand and from then till the end of the mission, Henry had stuck to him like glue. Charles had somewhat taken charge, telling all the units to fall back (which he was grateful for) and rounding them back to the helicopter. And while an in charge, serious Charles was _spectacularly hot,_ Henry couldn't shake off this guilty feeling. Like he, somehow, was the cause of it.

Henry figured he still must've had a morose look on his face, because Ellie came over and kicked him in the foot.

"Henry. Seriously, chill. You're acting as if we never got hurt before." That was true. Henry would sometimes return with a sprained wrist, even a couple bullet grazes if the mission went dicey. Ellie liked to bust in and out a lot more than he did, so she'd occasionally return with a few broken bones. Maybe a concussion, but nothing she couldn't bounce back from in a snap.

He waved his hands. "But.." He didn't want to seem like he didn't care about Ellie, or his own wellbeing. He did, very much, and he hoped his random waggling could convey that. Somehow, he figured Ellie got it. "..he never got hurt before."

_In this timeline anyway._

"I mean, I guess so? But that's only since we became the Triple Threat. Was... four months ago I think. I'm sure he's had his fair share of accidents before." That caught Henry's ear.

He did get to learn a bit more about his favorite pilot, but there was still so much more to find out. He wanted to extract every single drop of information he could from Charles. And if that made him creepy, so be it, but he _ached_ for more.

"Maaaybe you could go and ask him?" Ellie suggested. "He only got clipped in the shoulder, they should be done treating him by now." That was an idea.

He stretched out as much of his fatigue as he could, then readied to go to the door. Funnily enough, the doorknob jiggled soon as he touched it, and he jumped back. A familiar pair of red headphones waltzed on through.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" Henry had to iron himself in to not jump the dumbass. Instead, he pointed to the injury.

"Ah yea, my shoulder's all good now. And my head. Nurse just said I'd need to rest for a few days, and I'll be back to my helicoptering ways!"

"Mind being a little more careful next time around?" Ellie piped up from the chair she was lounging in. Yes, _thank you_ Ellie.   
"Henry couldn't stop fretting over you while you were gone." _Fuck you_ Ellie.

"O-oh, really?" Charles scratched his neck. Henry shot a discreet glare to the smiling redhead, missing Charles' pink ears.   
"Thanks for the concern, but no need to worry! I'm good."

"We know that now, but did you really have to drop down from the second floor?"

"You guys got caught! I could see everything from the security cameras I hacked into. Might as well help you out." He shrugged, then winced at the sore shoulder. Henry non-subtly pushed him towards the sofa.

"I know, and thanks for that, but was there really no other way to... apprehend them?"

"Nope."

"None. Whatsoever."

"It was the best plan, trust me."

"Alright." Ellie rolled her eyes. "Just, for Henry's sake, don't jump straight into a shoot off."

"But what if the situation calls for it!" Henry shook his head. _To heck with the situation_.   
"Come on guys, I just did my part. I don't like seeing any of you get hurt either, but we're all able to handle it."

"Charles.." Henry started, trying to think of the best way ask his question. "..I never saw you get hurt before." **_In this timeline anyway._**   
"I-I was worried."

A flicker of.. something, in his face flew by. No emotion. Then he flashed his teeth.   
"Aaw Henry, c'mere!" He was then promptly yanked into the best hug he'd ever received ever. Arms were a bit too tight, and they were tangled on the sofa since Charles pulled him in sideways, but it was _warm_ and Henry wished he could turn into a pillow for good.

He savored it a bit, only flipping off Ellie's smug ass face once because it had felt THAT good. He sighed when Charles withdrew, going over to hug a hissing Ellie for equality.

"I appreciate it, really, but.. I mean, it's not the first time I got shot or anything." He cringed at the image. Charles only got clipped in the shoulder, but a full shot to the gut?  
And yes, Henry has gone through PLENTY of those, but he had a safety net. No scars to show for any of his major "fails". He _technically_ had gotten out clean all the way.  
  
Charles apparently read the curiosity hesitant in Ellie's and Henry's eyes and answered. "Had a few stuck in my arms once, it was usually more on the legs though. Any time a bullet hit the torso, it went clean through so uh, yeah. Nothing too fatal."  
Seemingly not catching onto Henry's horrified face, he whispered loudly, "Though to be fair, bullets aren't usually the problem." A gleaming eye. "It's my flying."

Henry groaned, rolling off the couch. Ellie snorted.

"I know you must've been through other stuff like that before. It's just that poor wittle Henry here just can't hwandl- HEY!" Henry had to shut her up somehow, so he swiped the chocolate bar she was holding. He might die after this, but it's better than dying of embarrassment.

A thirty minute hunt and one supplex by Ellie later, the three had to report back to the General.  
Soon as they entered the room, Galeforce hopped right into it.

"Good to see you up and running Charlie." Charles clicked his tongue, and Henry did his damnedest to ignore how that made him feel.  
"Now, ever since we found out that the Toppat Clan's leader and his Right Hand Man escaped our facilities, they've been hosting several raids on the Wall to get back their main members. They've been successful a few times, but still have a long way to go."

Henry nodded. When the General first told them that they had escaped, he had to pick up his jaw multiple times. This was bad. He could be fairly sure they hated him now, whereas in other timelines he saw RHM openly coo at a stray cat in front of him and Reginald cry over a paper cut.  
Yet another awkward effect from his multiverse antics. It was also going to be strange to look at RHM without his cybernetic additions. Least that was one less thing to worry about.

"Well, the Wall has finally asked us for our help."   
What.

"The hell, seriously?" Ellie huffed. "Thought they were supposed to be the best prison ever or whatever."

"You try keeping a hundred Toppat members under one roof and prevent chaos. It's mighty hard." The General turned on a projector. It flickered dimly against the white walls. "Basically, they let us in on their plans. Dmitri reported that he recently scattered a lot of the members across different prisons around the world."

"Thin their numbers out a bit." Ellie commented. "Smart.. I guess." Yeah, Henry still held a grudge against them too.

"But as far as he's aware, the Toppat leader doesn't know that yet. So they're expecting another breakout soon. Though this time, they want your help in apprehending Reginald Copperbottom and his Right Hand Man. And whatever other members they managed to rescue so far." The projector slid to a map of the Wall complex.

Henry peeked over to where all the slides in the projector laid in wait and _good lord_.  
He heaved, slumping over in his chair. This was going to be a long meeting.


	4. helicopter's falling down, falling down, falling down

29 days.

29 days till they all have to go back to the Wall and debrief with Dmitri and Grigori about their biggest upcoming mission. Till then, they were assigned to three more general mini missions beforehand to help gather preparatory intel.

Shit.

"Shiiiiit." Ellie perfectly summed up his thoughts. "I still can't believe we have to go back there."

She was sprawled across the sofa, a domain she seemingly marked out for herself. Charles came out of the kitchen, equipped with a greasy frying pan and this ridiculous "Kiss the Pilot" apron he allegedly bought at some thrift market for three dollars. It seemed to mock Henry, and he made good effort to not obey the sauce stained letters.

"Don't freak out, General said that he made sure they got a stern talking to for overturning Henry's pardon. They'll now take every U.S. pardon seriously."

"Like they'd actually listen." Ellie seated up, but only to sample the spoonful of sauce Charles was holding out. "They'll--hey this isn't bad--probably try to throw us back behind bars again."

"Now why would they do that?" Charles offered the next taste to Henry, who sipped on the spoon with as little eye contact as he could manage.

Oh hey, Ellie was right, it was pretty good.

Oh no, he can cook.

"I dunno, but I'm sure they would if they could." Ellie sniffed. "I don't even know why they try to collect every notorious criminal in the world. I feel like they just do it for a pretty collection or something. Like how you'd collect rare stamps."

Henry nodded. "That makes sense."

"Well, if they try to take you guys back, they'll have to get by Charles first." Charles proudly referred to himself in third person. A few drops of spaghetti sauce dripped onto his arm. "Whoops."

Ellie hummed. "And what exactly is this amazing 'Charles' going to do to save us?"

"Oh, oh I think you know." Charles had a cheeky grin on, then quickly dashed off to his room (after putting away the pan and all of course). Henry and Ellie exchanged anticipant and worried glances. The second Ellie saw Charles emerge back from his room, she guffawed.

"PLEASE don't tell me you have more of those in your bed." Ellie scrambled off the couch, near to tears.

Charles was ringing off his fanfare, hefting up a GIGANTIC helicopter plushie up his two hands. Henry gaped. It could blot out the sun.

But he couldn't be any less surprised. A low giggle escaped Henry as Charles began to chase Ellie around the house with the helicopter that looked to _undulate_ with its own weight from how stuffed it was.

"Stooop! I bet you haven't washed that in years!" Ellie shrieked.

"This is the greatest plaaaaaa-"

Henry jolted back into blaring red lights and an earsplitting alarm. Everything terribly blurry, only smudges of warm colors all around him. What the fuck and where the fuck.  
There was smoke, falling debri, cackling bits of fire further along whatever cool metallic pathway he was running on. A sudden swirl of vertigo that very nearly made him hurl. Cold hands gripping him. Then warm hands...  
  
No. Hell no. He was not back here, he wasn't.  
His vision cleared, but still was looking through a thick yet fractured pane of glass, smudged and fogged up by the heat outside.

"Don't worry about me!"

Fuck, not this.

"I-I'll find another way."

Seriously- now? This is happening now??

His body staggered back as the pod shot away, but his eyes somehow remained on the cracked window. Watching as the Toppat station zoomed farther and farther away. Who was that screaming? Could've easily been either his or Charles'. He really hoped it wasn't Charles. He didn't want him to hurt, not ever, please not-

A crash brought him back to reality.  
  
Henry whipped his head around, Ellie now complaining about a broken chair the... plushie? Yep, the plushie had broken it. Charles looked every bit of an embarrassed parent after their child just toppled the grocery food stand.

Henry slid down the armchair he was in, sighing deeply. He managed to quickly calm his breathing before the other two noticed, holding in his breath a couple times.  
This was bound to happen.  
  
It caught him off guard. He'd been able to stave it off in the beginning and steel his mind from going any further, but he finally got a flashback to the worst route he'd finished... the last one.  
He touched his cheeks to make sure they weren't wet. They were still dry, his only saving grace.

Shaking his head harshly, he got up to move to his room. And he didn't leave it till the following 2:00 AM, when he surged forward in wake of another nightmare. The same nightmare.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


"Hey Ellie." She looked up from her book, seeing Charles idly fiddle with his headphones.

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed that lately Henry's been a little.. er, distant?"

She looked to the direction of his room. "Kind of. He's all fine when he's with us, but at night he sorta just.."

"Disappears." Chares finished. "Yea. It's a bummer. We were just starting to get our UNO nights going." Ellie chuckled. "That and... well, guess I'm just worried y'know?"

Ellie tapped her chin. "My room is closer to his than yours, and sometimes I would hear him shout way into the night."

"Oh no." Charles eyebrows flew up. "Nightmares? I hate those."

"Seems like it. I would check up on him right now but..."

"But what?"

She flipped a page. "You try first."

"M-me?"

"Sure. Unless, of course, you don't want to comfort him in his time of need or any-"

"What! No I- course I'll help him! I always want to. I, uh." He started to scooch off to the room. "Yeah, I'll go do that now." Ellie snickered, but upon his exit she did let herself get more concerned.  
What could Henry be having nightmares about? His past maybe? She knew she'd sometimes get not-too-nice dreams about her own, but she never attempted to dig into that with Henry. Mainly cause she knew she wouldn't appreciate it if it happened to her.

She blew a breath and set her book down. Time for hot cocoa.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


If Henry wasn't already slumped over, back against the door, he wouldn't have picked up those faintest, softest of knocks.

"Henry? You there?" Ah lovely, it was Charles. Thank you life. Perfect timing for a heart to heart.

He coughed. "M'here."

"Oh, okay. Cool." A long beat Henry couldn't help smile at. The dork was nearly as socially awkward as he was. "Can I uh, come in?"

Henry heaved himself up and landed on his bed. Eyes determinedly stuck to his ceiling, he grunted an affirmative. Charles came in, took in the sad sight (his room was always pretty messy, but it had gotten marginally worse over the past week or so), then walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. Henry's heart picked up a scotch, but he kept looking up.

"So." Charles started, then immediately took back. Henry didn't mind. He could wait forever. Closing his eyes, he picked up on something smoky and... fruity? Fuck was smoked fruits doing in his- ohhh, wait. No, that was Charles' scent. Huh.

"...you seem pretty tired nowadays." Henry opened his eyes, resisting a groan. He knew the others picked up his fatigue. Just hoped that the source of it would go away before they begin to confront him about it. But, with their first of three mini missions starting tomorrow, of course they'd talk about it.

"Is it, like, the mattress or something? Need anything softer?" Henry huffed a breathy laugh. No, course Charles would worry about his spine first before a minor mission.

"Mattress is good."

"Oh! That's good. Yeah, it's pretty soft to me. I'm glad."

For whatever reason, Henry didn't find their silences to be too awkward. Or maybe he was just too tired to care.

"...Ellie mentioned that she uh, sometimes hears you shout? At night." Damn, there it is. "Well, technically mornings too. That's.. gotta suck."

A shuddery inhale. "It does."

"How can I help?"

Not "Tell me", "What's wrong?" or "Wanna talk about it" or anything that would necessarily require context. Just, "how can I help". God, he loved this man.

"I've..." He was _so_ tempted to just spill everything to Charles. Let him carry something for him. Selfish, he knows, but he's always been a little selfish.  
  
Would Charles even beli- no, no of course he would believe him, this was Charles we're talking about here. He'd believe Henry even if he told him he was stuck in groundhog day or if there were zombies right outside the door or... yeah. Anything. And he'd totally take it in stride too.

"Just been having some nightmares. Keeps me up." Not yet. For now, he'll be half-truthful.

"Ah shoot. I mean, yeah, I figured." Charles shifted further up the bed. "Wanna skip out on the mini missions? They're not super important, it's ju-"

"No!" Henry finally tore his eyes to look at Charles. Healthy (relatively), fully intact Charles. "I.. I want to come. I have to." Oh he absolutely had to. _Somebody_ had to yank Charles away from the eject button.  
Whenever Charles went out on special missions outside of their Triple Threat sector, Henry couldn't help but feel his stomach whirl into a messy ball of twine. It always made him feel sick that he couldn't be there with him. To make sure he was safe. Alive.

"O-oh uh, you sure?" Charles twisted around to meet his eyes. "I can totally ask the General to excuse you, no biggie."

"Charles." Henry sat up and Charles jumped, barely noticeable. "I'm going."

He nodded slowly. "Alright. Gotcha. Just uh, remember that we've got your back kay? If you need something, sleeping pills or whatever, I can pick em right up." Charles landed a hand on Henry's shoulder and brought him close, just like he did in the tavern, before he took him up to space and-

"Thanks." Henry smiled wryly. "You... you're such a hero Charles."

Charles burst into surprised laughter, which Henry thankfully used to quickly wipe any emergent tears. It had felt good to say that to him.

"Aw gee, I wouldn't call any of this heroic Hen." Oh FUCK what a stupid and endearing nickname. Henry pulled over a blanket to cover up him clutching his chest. "Just trying to check up on ya."

"No, really." He wasn't sure what possessed him to move even closer, till he could breath in the minty cinnamon that was Charles' breath--which really should've been a wacky combination, but it fit somehow. "You.. mean a lot to me." And hey! Maybe he could finally assert how Charles should stop throwing himself into danger at neckbreak speeds. Or.. or maybe he could-

"HOT COCOA TIME BITCHES." Ellie all but kicked Henry's door in. If it wasn't already slightly ajar from Charles entering, the hinges would have completely broken. Henry rubbed his face. She kicked the door in with full intention on breaking it.

She stopped haphazardly swinging the tray of steaming mugs once she looked at the two boys. In very close proximity.  
Right.

Henry skittered backwards in a red mess, Charles looked back and fro Henry and Ellie in confusion, and Ellie began to slowly back away. "Uhh, nevermind? Resume??"

Henry's voice came muffled from being smushed into the pillows. "Just bring the hot cocoa Ellie."


	5. mini mission uno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all yall comments tysm :>>>

"Look Henry, I said I was sorry a thousand times already, you can't stay upset at me forever." Ellie may as well have dropped the effort to whisper with how she screeched at the recipient, but the helicopter blades were loud enough to drown out any noises from the back to Charles.

Henry, in all honesty, didn't have much to be pissed about at Ellie concerning the other day. Sure, they were having a Moment™, but it's not like he was actually going to go for it.  
  
..Or was he? If he had leaned in, just a little closer, would Charles have leaned in tandem?  
The very thought made his ears red, so he stuffed it down temporarily in favor of focusing on the upcoming mission.  
  
The Triple Threat were to infiltrate a small mansion of sorts, where one of the Toppat members lived, and scour the place for any evidence of new thefts going on. For legal purposes or something--he wasn't paying that much attention. He always trusted Charles to provide them the simplified version whenever they arrived on site.

"Henry!" She lightly slapped his shoulder. "Come _on_. Look, I'll ask him okay?" Henry perked up at that.

As retribution, he asked Ellie that morning if she could ask Charles about his dating preferences. Cause all this pining effort would be completely wasted if he just wasn't into guys.  
Now Ellie may have retorted once or twice before that Charles was as straight as his helicopter blades after ramming it sideways into a skyscraper (that _almost_ happened once), but Henry still wanted to be sure.

When he first asked, she had all but shoved him towards Charles' general vicinity and scoffed, "Ask him yourself!"   
Which, fine, maybe he should've. But he had no idea how to casually bring up the topic, and smooth talk was never one of his strong suits.  
  
Apparently, childishly puffing up his cheeks whenever Ellie came near was enough to wear her down, and she gave in. Noted.

"You're impossible." She shook her head. "I just can't believe you don't see it."

Don't see what, he would've asked had Charles' voice not sputtered into their mics with a cheery warning that they were getting close.

"Oh and uh, Henry?" He nodded to the pilot seat, even though Charles couldn't see it. "Soo, remember how the General started to send more backup and put them under our administration?" He grimaced. Christ no please.  
"Well er, I did hear you complain about it to Ellie in the kitchen like, a few days ago, so I talked to the General about it. He said that he'll pull back and do it like before where they'd just send troops under his command when we call for it."

The first wave of emotion nearly crippled him. Charles had merely heard him bitch about something and he went to try and fix it? Oh. Oh almighty and cruel gods, that almost made his heart leak from how much it filled.

The second wave of emotion nearly crippled him as well, but for other reasons.

He heard.. that conversation. _That_ conversation in the kitchen. _That conversation in the kitchen_ where Henry had not only ranted about the General's call, but also waxed poetical about how the time light reflected off Charles' eyes in such a way that it almost made his iris look emerald (what? now that he knew Ellie knew, and she wasn't mean enough to tell just tell Charles, he might as well get it out his system) and about how his hair curled even more in the wind and oh _my god-_

"Did ya hear me?" A wary voice stopped him from spiraling. "Sorry um, if I misunderstood. If you want me to take it back I totally could, I just-"

"Thank you!" Henry yelped. Ellie dragged her hands down her face. "I, yes, thank you. I really appreciate that."

"Oh! Phew, awesome."

"I could hug you right now." Damn him, why'd he say that, now Charles was going to ask him to "well come on then" and-

"Well come on then." Henry hung his head. "Just be careful not to fall over but um, go right ahead. I'm waaiiiting."

With silent cackles, Ellie lifted a limp Henry up to his feet and pushed him forward on the already rocky platform. Charles' flying skills usually made walking on a flying helicopter as easy as skipping on solid ground, but today was particularly windy.  
  
He wobbled on over to the opening of the cockpit and squeezed Charles around his shoulders. He wanted to just hug him for a quick few seconds, but there was that warmth again and.. well, sue the man- Henry sunk in as deep as he could.

"Really. Thanks. I don't know if I could've handled another day of that."

"No biggie!" Charles nodded, eyes never leaving forward once, then softly sighed. Did he just snuggle into him? Fucking hell that was precious. "Besides, you're super tired. Don't push yourself too hard."

He nodded and would've absolutely stayed in that position for the rest of the flight, but Charles had already said they were close.

"Alright gang we're here!" The helicopter slowed to a hover. Henry reluctantly let go and opened the doors, looking downward with Ellie.

"Look at that pool!" Ellie pointed. It was a deep azure with gold blinged out all across its outline. The Toppats sure were extravagant. One of the only things he really missed from the Toppat endings. "Bet we could dive into that."

"All the way up from here?" Charles sounded only mildly concerned.

"Totally." Ellie tightened the straps of her bag. "Like minecraft or something. Drop into the water and you're good."

"Hm." Charles paused. "Seems legit."

Henry could've pointed out a few hundred reasons on why it was not legit _at all,_ but the pool did seem pretty deep. And it sounded like a lot of fun.  
Plus, Ellie almost never made stupid calls unless she thought it could work.

"Let's do it." Henry affirmed, deciding to leave the job of being the voice of reason for another day.

"Cool." Ellie checked her mic a few times, then readied herself.

Charles added, "Remember, just look for any hard drives or computers. From there, either download the contents or ask me to hack into it. If I can't, I'll connect one of our computer whizzes."

"Got it. Here we go." And off they went.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


"Son of a fuck!" Ellie sputtered.

No belly flops thankfully, otherwise they probably would've exploded, but they weren't expecting the wind to be that much stronger on the ground than it was in the air.

Henry shivered, shaking himself off once he climbed out of the pool.

"You guys made it?" Charles asked through their mics.

"Yeah, just freezing." Ellie squeezed her clothes. "Say, is there some kind of storm coming? It's really cloudy."

"Weather report didn't say anything like that, but I'll keep you posted!"

"Let's just get in." Henry made his way to the backdoor, using one of his lockpicks to open it. For a Toppat residence, it was surprisingly easy work, and soon enough they were both in.

"Okay so, I see two other heat signatures in the house. Other than that, no guards. Pretty civilian."

"Perfect." Ellie led the way upstairs, where they found four closed doors. She turned to him. "Split up?"

Henry shook his head. Last time they did, Ellie got trapped in a room and broke two fingers in trying to get out.

"Alright, if you say so. Let's go with this one."

The insides of this bedroom was basically one gigantic nuclear bunker wannabe. Everything was war themed. It got on his nerves enough to prompt him asking Charles,

"Do you know the bios of the people here right now?"

"Uhh nope, but I can do a body scan from here. Might take a while though, can't get too close y'know."

Henry hummed, keeping an eye out from the door as Ellie ransacked the place.

"Nothing useful here. Let's move."

The next two rooms after that was a simple bathroom and an empty guest room. Charles swore up and down that there would be a secret entrance somewhere in the guest room--"No it's not on the map. But come on, there's gotta be!"--but turns out his movie hunch was but a movie hunch.

The last room on the other hand..

"Jackpot." Ellie dashed directly to the wide spread of computers. "Sweet. Okay, this time I'll keep guard, you search the files." Henry nodded and exchanged spots.

"See if you can find anything on their recent whereabouts. Either for the member who owns this house, or Reginald and his Right Hand Man." Charles reminded. "Ooh! Also, turns out tha--". Static.

Henry felt a small flare of panic, but tried to keep it level. They were in the middle of a mission, and Charles was far up in the sky. No way anybody could get to him there.

"Ok wow, ther-lot of in--think a st--." Henry grunted in frustration. Ellie caught on.

"Yeah, same on my end. I think he's getting some kind of interference. Not sure why."

He gulped, hurriedly scanning through all the folders. Some of them required passwords, but he couldn't think of guessing any right now. He found one favorable title though.

"Something on blueprints and schematics and stuff?"

"Download it all." Ellie suddenly lowered her voice to a hush. "..I think someone might be coming upstairs, hurry." Henry pulled out a long wire helpfully attached to his bag and plugged it into the computer's lightning port.

"Five minutes. Who-" A loud shout from the hall made them freeze.

"Wha! Aw come on, that's not very funny! Why'd you mess my room up?"

"I didn't touch your room!" A deeper voice defended. "I was in the kitchen the whole time."

"But then how.."

"I don't care, just give me one of your computers already. Only reason why I'm here."

"I know I know, it's just-"

Ellie silently shut the door tight and locked it. "Hey Charles, I don't know if you can hear us but we're kinda stuck in the computer room now. The other two are coming, but they don't look armed. We can probably take em down."

She walked over to the computer. "Done yet?"

Henry walked away from the computer and took out a handgun from his bag. Ellie copied the move. "Guess not. Well, get ready, cause I think they're right outside the door."

True to her word, the doorknob jiggled. Another confused exclamation. Then a full body ram, which didn't do much but cause the other person some pain.

"Oh that's it." The deeper voiced guy said. "I'll handle this." Some footsteps that faded away, then came back.

"Whoa now, that's an antique! You can't just waste it here."

"I'm not gonna deploy it. Old thing probably can't anyway. I'm just gonna use it to punch a hole to unlock the door."

"Ugh fine. Just try not to get any scratches on the tip."

"Matt, I am literally only here for one of _ten_ computers you got, since YOU forgot to pick mine up from the rocket. You can-"

"Ring any bells?" Ellie whispered. Matt? Nope. "Hey, the download says it only has one more minute to go. Mayb-"

The door shot thick splinters at the pair as a hefty bomb shell crashed clean through. It graciously missed the computer they were downloading from, but still caused a lot of woodchips and dust to flood the room.  
Between coughs, Ellie wheezed out, "Is that a fucking _Kenney Cocktail?!_ "

A chipper voice replied with a pleased "Yes!" before they realized that there were intruders in the house. "Wait a minute!"

Henry looked bizarrely between the rigid Ellie, the two Toppat members in front of him, and the fat bomb that really shouldn't have been able to knock the door down by just throwing it.

Ellie must've mistaken Henry's bewildered face, because she began to detail the exact _bomb model_ , as if Henry gave a single flying shitstreak about those sort of things.

"It's an M-47 100lb bomb. Lots of white phosphorous, which I don't really know about. All I know is that there's typically a _lot_ of fire."

The man in a simple black top hat happily nodded as the other, with a fatter deep blue hat, drew a gun. Ellie and Henry both quickly drew theirs.

"You're the ones who felled the Toppat clan's rocket!" Henry was hoping that since their faces didn't show up on the news, they wouldn't have recognized them, but turns out the Toppat clan already knew somehow.

"That's right, and we're going to, uh, fall you guys too if you don't get out of our way." Ellie cocked her gun at the first dude, who didn't have a weapon out.

Henry squinted at the two. They looked familiar. The blue hatted one.. wasn't that Joe or something? The guy had caught him in the Airship's surveillance room if he played Civ V. That was pretty funny.  
But the other guy... the hell was Matt? And why did he make his brain throb?

"Try it lady!" Joe held the gun steady but didn't shoot yet.

The wire suddenly lit up with a monotone beep. The download was done! Henry tried to hide him unplugging the wire behind his body, but the first guy caught it.

"They're downloading my Toppat files!"

Joe shot out a bullet, but the wire must've been coated in _titanium_ or some shit, because all it did was bounce right off and pitter patter across the room like a crazed ping pong ball on crack cocaine. It only stopped upon embedding itself deep into the bomb with a loud, resounding thud.

"Oh boy." Ellie backed away from the bomb. Henry was baffled. Why did Ellie know so much more about bombs than he did, and ho- was that smoke.

He looked to the bomb, which was now spewing out hot white smoke in all directions.

Abandon ship.

In the next four seconds, Henry fully returned the wire back to his bag and leapt for the exit. Ellie followed suit, shooting the armed Toppat in the leg. Nonfatal, but enough to make him fall down.

In the next three seconds, Henry and Ellie already made their way down the stairs, hands pressed against the door they broke in from.

In the next two seconds, the two were thrown out into the pool, shoved by the encompassing heat wave.

Henry couldn't hear much once underwater, but he managed to spot Ellie through the murky depths and shot her a hesitant thumbs up. She returned it, right when a big chunk of wall splashed in.

One word came to Henry's mind as the two broke the surface and gasped in burning air.

HazMatt.

That was the name of the guy with the black top hat. It also explained his room decor plenty. But Henry also remembered where exactly he recognized him from.

He was the one in the third escape pod.

His head hurt.

Henry pulled himself out the pool and slumped over on his back, trying to keep his brain under wraps.  
It shouldn't be so hard to flick across his alternate memories to remember some faces. Least of all from the ending he's been having nightmares about for nearly a week straight.  
  
Speaking of, he was _tired._

"Yikes." Ellie looked up at the half destroyed house.  
All Henry could see was the dark clouds above. It took him a few seconds to process that the droplets on his face were actually fresh rain rather than chlorinated water.  
Flames licked the debri around them, but the shower helped put some of them out.

"Wait, Henry." Ellie called him to sit up, which he did very begrudgingly so. "What's that?"

Henry caught a glint from what she was looking at. In the middle of the rubble, was a sizable metal box. It looked to be the size of a normal room, but encased in steel.

They looked at each other.

"Vault room?"

"Could be."

"Riches beyond our wildest dreams?"

"Can you walk?" Ellie nodded. Henry tried, but decided that he hadn't the energy to crack open a treasure room at the moment, shockingly enough.

"Don't worry, sit tight here. I can go check it out."

Ellie wasn't able to take two steps toward the thing before the opening to it swung wide open. Henry had to rub his eyes at the top hats. They survived??

"You've got to be kidding me." Ellie stepped back to where Henry was. "Are you telling me that bunker-like bedroom was _actually_ a bunker?"  
Henry dumbly nodded as HazMatt hopped out with a rifle in hand. Joe remained inside, but still poked another gun out from the door. "Wow. That's dedication."

"You... you destroyed my house!" HazMatt looked torn. Ellie glanced at the burning remains of the building.

"I mean, you got insurance right?"

The Toppat in question only yelled, aiming for her head.

"That's a no."

Ellie's hands twitched momentarily, aiming to grab Henry and fall backwards into the pool again. What the plan was from there, Henry couldn't tell, and he would likely never know now that a helicopter slammed down _directly_ onto HazMatt's hat.

"About time!" Ellie hollered as the deafening blades died down. The door slid open to a running Charles.

"Guys! Oh man I'm so sorry about that. This sudden storm somehow interfered with the comms. I could catch mostly everything though." He took a breath. "Any of you hurt?"

Henry figured that pointing to his lingering headache would only mean a concussion to Charles, so he just stayed put.

"Aside from getting our asses a little singed, I think we're good." Ellie patted her pants in good humor. "We got what we could. Time to go back home."

Home. Now that sounded like a nice thought right about now.

Ellie boarded the helicopter. Charles knelt down next to Henry.

"You did it!!" His positive demeanor almost helped lift up the heavy fog around Henry's head. But it somehow wasn't enough. It's like there was some kind of imaginary anvil pinning his gut down. He didn't want to move, get up, nothing.

"Mhm." Henry murmured, shifting a little before giving up again.

Charles blinked. "You sure you aren't injured?"

Aside from the crushing void of echoed guilt and grief weighing down on his body? Yep! Henry couldn't be better.

It looked like Charles was about to pick Henry up bridal style, which he wholeheartedly accepted, but as always they were interrupted. Though this time, it was a lot worse than Ellie and her hot cocoa.

A splurt of blood barely missed Henry's face as a bullet shot straight through Charles' arm.

"Ung! Aw man-!" He hardly sounded deterred. If it weren't for his slight grimace and clenched eye, you'd have thought the man just dropped his croissant. "The _same shoulder too_ are you kidding me. Oh gosh, this is gonna be sore _forever."_

As much as Henry enjoyed Charles' silly ramblings, it often distracted him from properly responding to the attack. Henry spotted the source of the shot from the makeshift bunker, and his gut both plummeted and bounced straight up to his throat simultaneously, which made for a really weird sensation. Especially since he couldn't feel at all, time being.

Well, technically he could. Henry was definitely panicking, but also not, as if he were detached from his body knowing that he was on the cusp of a meltdown.

He heard a faint "I got it!" and some more shots. Ellie probably dealt with the other guy. Good.

"Whoa, you look out of it. Alrighty, up we go." Charles--wounded arm and all--heaved Henry up and carried him over to the helicopter. Henry could probably think a million thoughts about that. Could probably say something about it too, or do something, but he couldn't.  
His mind and body were locked in, stubbornly stuck, and all he could manage to do was burrow in deeper to that _warm warm warm_ and fade away.

He was tired.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


In a mobile unit of the Chaos Containment Center, not too far away, a standard employee picked up a tiny blip of a signal.

"Uhh, director? Should I be worried about this?"

Said director walked on over to the screen, lowering their glasses.

"Hrm.. no, not really. Just a slight disturbance in the fabric of our timeline. But those happen all the time. It's barely above the average bump. Dismiss it."

And so the employee did.


	6. lil quick interlude ye

"You did it again." Ellie smiled, leaning against the space of clear wall between Charles' cot and Henry's.

Only Charles was awake, the dopey eyed fool staring at a dozing Henry on his side (off the bad shoulder). He snapped out of his daze, focusing back on Ellie with an apologetic look.

"What?"

"You did it again." Ellie repeated. "Came through right on time by landing on the enemy."

Charles huffed a laugh. "Right, well, it was only to get back at you moving the turrets out the way the second they fired, few months ago. I hope you know that."

They basked in a peaceful stretch of quiet, listening to the hard thuds of fat raindrops outside. Storm was really starting to pick up now. Charles was waiting for some lightning to complete the mood, maybe crack a joke about it, but instead a sudden gasp startled him.

Henry was sat up, straight as an arrow.

Took him some blinks and deep breaths to discover that they were at one of the military medical centers. He relaxed slightly, shuffling back onto his rickety cot. Ellie held out a glass of water, but he waved it away.

He'd slept like a bear who skipped two winters, feeling wide awake for the first time in a week.  
He also just, felt.  
  
A LOT.

All the emotions and adrenaline highs he suppressed at the end of their mission earlier came crashing back into him like an ocean wave bent on revenge. It left him almost stunned, rolling on through him--that tornado of grief he still wasn't sure why it hit, immense relief upon seeing that trusty helicopter touchdown, the dizzying panic when Charles got--

"Charles?!" Henry stopped recollecting and looked about, stopping on Charles in the bed right next to his.

"Heya." Charles waved, his cheek on hand. "Dunno what happened but, I think you fainted? Or fell asleep, dunno. I asked the nurses to check up on you just in case. They um, told me you're all good, just fatigued."

Henry swallowed hard, patting his shoulder.

Charles sighed. "Yeah, that was dumb. Can't believe he got me, and in the same shoulder! Guh." His eyes softened at Henry's wild ones. "It went right through and all, just going to take longer to heal."

He shakily nodded, returning his gaze back to his sheets before closing his eyes.

Henry connected the dots by now.

Whenever he'd have a bad dream, whether it be about the Valiant Hero end or any other route he greatly disliked (or the many many times he died, that too), he'd come to and always calm down by reminding himself over and over that it was just a dream. He'd say it was fake, technically never happened in this world, then he'd go to the kitchen and chug a potful of coffee to keep himself awake for the rest of the day.

Yeaah, not the healthiest move. No wonder he crashed by the end of the mission.

But that wrecking ball of guilt that hit him in the gut out of nowhere? It came after remembering somebody he recognized from only that route. It was.. jarring.  
It made it realer, no longer a memory that never happened. Bringing back not only the memories of that ending, but his coping mechanisms with it.

There was a brief moment of time where he grieved, before he was able to leave that godforsaken timeline and start anew by the deity's wishes.

He completely turned off.

After being thoroughly ravaged by wretched agony at seeing Charles die, and after being fully wrung dry of tears, he shoved all the stronger emotions so far up the crevices of his mind, he was almost impressed with himself.

The only thing that didn't leave, was the survivor's guilt.

He knew it was stupid, and there wasn't anything he could've done different (believe him, he tried), but it still tore him up that Charles died in protecting _him._ A thief with no qualms on hurting others if it meant he could get the riches he yearned for. The most average looking guy possible with the most boring life possible, up until he somehow was granted this time changing power on the basis of no merit whatsoever. Negative merit really.

He... he had to let this out.

It wasn't ever going to get better if he didn't.

What would happen the next time he saw somebody who reminded him of what he kept trying to smother? The next time he gets yeeted back into the space station, hit with a complete shut down? He couldn't move when depressed, couldn't even feel worry for his partners when he had so resolutely stuffed everything down to the deepest circles of hell.

He couldn't afford to keep freezing up.

"Guys.." Henry turned to them. They were already looking, waiting patiently. He inhaled deeply, and slowly let it all out. "You might not believe this, but..."

  
  
\---

  
  
"Could you repeat that. One more time please." Reginald didn't need to hear it again, but he icily told Burt to say it again just to feel it rile up the fire one more time.

"I said that the government discovered our plans sir." Burt's monotone, dead-inside voice was something everybody in the clan had quickly gotten used to. But it also did him no favors whatsoever when it came to delivering bad news.

Reginald pinched his temples, barely keeping down his groans. "And..?"

"Aaand they've scattered our imprisoned members across multiple international complexes. It'll take us a long time to recover all their files."

The Toppat Clan had bases all over the world too, but ever since the whole Airship division got arrested, and their space station plans got foiled by two thieves (one thief being the same one who finally incriminated them!) and a military pilot, many of those bases got shut down. They had to evacuate their members from nearly all of them, except for a few (ironically enough) in Canada.

"Any. Good news?" Reginald groused.

"Uhh yeah, actually. We were able to decode the government's own plans to apprehend us too."

"Oh?" Finally, something they could work with.

"Uh-huh. The general charged with handling Toppat Clan cases and covert operations made a new secret division called... the triple threat?"

His moustache twitched irritably. "Let me guess. It's the two thieves and pilot."

"It's the two thieves and pilot." Burt nodded. "But the first two have been pardoned, and now they're all covert ops agents so. Yeah."

"Alright.. and I suppose they're expecting us to continue on with our raid at the Wall?"

"Assuming they don't find out that we found out how they found out our plans, then yes."

"I.." Reginald blinked. "Okay, whatever. Point is, we now have an advantage! Call my Right Hand Man, we're going to need to launch new plans immediately."

"Should I notify everyone that the big raid has been cancelled?"

"Oh no, no. We're going to continue to carry it out."

"Sir?"

"I'll explain to everyone once RHM gets in here."

Burt shrugged. "Alright then." He clicked something on his headset. "Sir? Copperbottom is calling for you.."  
  
  


\---  
  
  


Henry discovered that being in the middle of two cots shoved together as one makeshift bed was not the most comfortable position to be in. Especially when wedged between two other bodies.  
  
But he also discovered that he couldn't care less.

There had been a lot of shouts, a lot of tears, a lot of everything, but he finally got through with it and spilled _everything_.

He told them about how he randomly got the power after being first imprisoned, and how it had followed him through stealing the diamond, infiltrating the airship, and fleeing the complex. It took a while to fully explain how the voice then made him combine different outcomes--"This is confusing." Charles had said--and even longer to go through every single ending--"This is REALLY confusing." Charles had said--but, he did it.

Finally, he could rest easy.

He had no doubt he'll still go through nightmares via random regurgitations of all his alternate memories scrambled together, but at least now he could have somebody to lean onto with its weight. Two somebodies.

Charles was snoring lightly on his right, Ellie drooling on his left. The two had run themselves ragged in asking questions, taking everything in, then collapsing into one big weepy dog pile when Henry got into the harder memories.

"You idiot, of course we believe you." Ellie had bonked on his head with one hand, the other roughly rubbing at her eyes. "Can't believe I tried to kill you... well- okay, if someone abandoned me I would totally do that. But still!"

"God Henry." Charles was far more teary, the first to start scooching his cot closer (to no avail, Ellie had to step in to help). "That must've been so crazy and confusing- and having to go through all those deaths? Geez." His lower lip wobbled, which Henry had desperately wanted to smooth over with his thumb. Or lips.

No, down- down! Impulses be damned.  
  
"And some of those timelines.." Charles continued, shaking his head. "I can't imagine not being with you both!" More waterworks. Overall, a very draining affair. It took ten minutes for Henry to even start on recounting Charles' death, which funnily (and predictably) enough, Charles had took in stride most easily out of anything else. He was more upset over how Henry's guilt was intense enough to ram back into him upon recalling it.

But now, he could think about it. Still no fun, but he could at least sift through the memories without an unpleasant, sensory flashback. Before, going through them felt like wading through hardening concrete.  
  
He sighed, snuggling into the blankets further.  
Henry was glad the voice had at least let him have the final say in how his life was going to move on. He was a mix of grateful and spiteful towards the being, and that option he was given edged it slightly more over to the grateful side of things.

He could've stayed in their warm triple cuddle for all the rest of time. Even the storm outside had gotten a bit lighter. But all good things must come down.  
Er, no, all things that go up must come to an end--oh, moving on.

There was a knock at the door.  
Henry wasn't going to be the one to allow somebody to waltz in and ruin their sleeping party, so he waited till the knocking grew loud enough to wake Ellie up. She grumbled, sliding off and shoving Henry over to his cot again. After spending a good minute separating the two hand-holding morons (Henry may or may not have subconsciously gripped Charles' hand, and he'd be damned if he didn't put up a fight in letting go), Ellie trudged over to the door and opened it.

General Hubert Galeforce.

"For a trio of secret agents, you've been very.. unsecretive, about your distress. The other nurses asked me to investigate." He took in everyone's tear-streaked faces and red eyes. "Do I want to know."

No one said anything.

"Good. I'm here just to check up on you all and brief you on your next minor mission. Charles and Ellie already caught me up while you were out Henry. Well done everyone, seems like the download has been a success." Henry weakly threw up an "ok" sign. He'd thought the bag took a bad beating after the explosion, but turns out the ports inside were made of bloody titanium too.

"What we found so far, we'll go over once Charles recovers and is ready to fly again."

"I can fly!" Charles bolted up. Henry shook his head; rascal had been pretending to sleep the whole time.

"No you can't."

"But Gen-"

"You've been shot twice in the same spot. I'm not having you go out on the field in anything but your best."

Charles fell back on his pillow, but mumbled a "Yes sir."

The General nodded. "You'll all be staying on this base for a week or so. Once we're all set for the next mission, you'll be transferred to another base out south. Understood?"

Ellie and Henry saluted, probably incorrectly. The General didn't give further comment and just turned back out the door.

Missing the warmth, Henry reached out his hands with grabby motions to both Charles and Ellie. Ellie sighed, moving the cots again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah crap now I really wanna write a Henry x Charles x Ellie thing hhh
> 
> After this story!


	7. mini mission dos

Ellie loved these two boys, she figured. Swells of affection would brush her arms whenever Henry and Charles put on their "I have the dumbest idea ever" face and commit.  
Whenever Henry would synch with Ellie in their missions, leaving them unscathed. Whenever Charles would spare a quip comment to make her giggle, whether it came from the helicopter or the sofa.

She'd kill every soldier or Toppat member on sight if she had to choose between their lives and the Triple Threat's wellbeing. She knew this, they knew it, everybody did.

But every now and again, she also wanted to strangle the two dorks till their faces turn blue.

"Please?" Henry had donned his best begging eyes, clasping hands together in prayer. "For me."

"No, nope, nuh-uh."

And of course she gave in. Because _somebody_ had to act as the mediator to this pathetically slow budding romance.  
Which is why she found herself currently in the most uncomfortable suit and headwrap in all existence, dressed up as HazMatt--who she's pretty sure Charles, at minimum, gave spectacularly crushing brain damage to--while itching at this metallic patch on her neck that's supposed to make her voice sound deeper.

The things she does for them.

"But.. wouldn't it be simpler if one of you boys disguised yourself as the members you handled last mission instead?" The General had asked _after_ Henry managed to pull Ellie aside and PLEAD her to let him tag with Charles for the second mission.

Henry merely waved his hands, stammering out a "Don't worry about it." which, was rich to Ellie considering it's the General's _job_ to worry about a division he presides over.  
Unfortunately for her, he had far too much trust in light of the Triple Threat's recent string of successes, so he let it go.

She gave up itching her neck and sighed, voice unnervingly deep. But what was she to do? She was technically the one at fault.  
Soon as Ellie took it upon herself to ask Charles his preferences (because Henry would NOT let the hot cocoa incident go) and the pilot had sputtered out that he swung both ways, she knew she was going to regret everything.

"B-but uh, look, I like you just not in-" Ellie immediately pulled his jacket over his face because _no._ Not dealing with that.

It got worse when she told Henry her spoils, at which he both leapt five feet high in elation that he had a shot ("You're blind Henry! Blind!!") and then dove headfirst into worry because he apparently had "twice the number of competition now" (at which Ellie had to helpfully remind him that _he was bi too_ ).

It was all just starting to get a bit.. much.

Ever since Henry's "revelation", he'd been trying much harder to actually _flirt_ with Charles and send unambiguous signals that he was very much head over heels for the pilot.

But of course, Charles could twist anything as direct as a blingy neon sign screaming "I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!!" to an ambiguous take. So in that light, Ellie may have felt a _little_ bad for Henry's sake, but god, what about her?

"I hope you got the plan down pat." Ellie grumbled at Henry, who was bouncing in his seat.

"100%." Henry nodded, tidying up his bowtie. Ellie wanted to die.

"About the mission. Henry. Not your date."

"It's not-!"

"Tell me what the General recounted."

Henry gulped, but managed to reiterate it.

"Found an invitation in HazMatt's email to a housewarming party from Carol Cross, one of the higher ranking Toppats. You sneak in and distract her, everyone if necessary, while Charles and I steal her computer."

Ellie found it remarkable that he managed to retain it at all, considering a few hours ago Henry was fussing over what color socks to wear.

Minimally satisfied, Ellie changed the topic. "You know you didn't have to wear a suit, right? You two are sneaking in, not blending in."

Henry shrugged, nodding his head to the pilot seat. "He went with it."

"That he did." She sighed.

The two waited in anxious silence, till Charles called back to them.

"Alrighty! Here we are." Charles stepped out of the cockpit and let the co-pilot take over. He was at first confused as to why Henry had wanted him to tag along on ground, but like the General, found no real reason to deny it. Now, he was fairly excited.  
"Wowzers, now that's a mansion."

The three looked down at the twinkling lights blinking out of ten or so windows.

"Well, she is a higher rank and all." Ellie murmured.

"Haha whoa! You sound so different. The disguise is pretty good." Charles laughed. She stared long and hard at Henry, who had the decency to look a little sorry.

"L-let's just drop in." Henry wisely said, putting on his parachute.

Three smooth landings later, they snuck up to the fenced-in mansion through thick bushes and overhanging trees. The weather was balmy, calm, so no issues in that regard like last time.  
Charles pressed his headphones for a second. "Okay, so Rogers will be waiting for us at the pickup location. Ellie, whenever you're ready."

She took a deep sigh, tugged her hat on tighter, and walked out onto the driveway.

Didn't take long for some group of Toppats coming up the sidetrail to spot her and boisterously welcome "Mattie".

"Heard yer house done blown up!" One of the shorter men clapped her on the back. She internally grimaced at his sweaty hand.

"Oh yeah, um, turns out one of my antique bombs wasn't as dead as I thought."

"You and your obsessions. Told you it wasn't a good idea to keep em all under your roof. How'd you survive?"

"I uh-" She spotted Henry leading Charles by the hand to the backyard of the mansion. She trusted Henry to be able to figure out how to get through the fences, but one look at his giddy face told her that she was going to have to look out for them throughout the entire party, _without_ interrupting their not-date. Somehow.

Crap, the dude was starting to turn to where she was staring. She quickly threw an arm around his shoulder, forcing him to look towards the front door.

"Ohhh hahah- well, uh.. dunno if you knew but, my bedroom was actually a reinforced bunker so.. I was able to shelter there." She knew that was the truth, but she couldn't help feel like they'd still find that suspicious.

"Gee! You sure went all out." Thank god.  
Stealing a quick glance, the two oblivious boys were out of sight. She slumped over in relief. "-I'm sure you'll find the perfect hazmat one day. Now come on! Cross'll be all upset if we're not punctual."

Oof, right. Carol Cross. The General didn't have much information on her files, but Henry was able to supply a little forewarning after their meeting (and after Henry decided it'd be a good idea to swap spots and make Ellie _play dress up,_ she had BETTER get some cookies for this).  
Recalling what he could from all the timelines where he became a part of the clan, he mentioned that she was extremely strict and by the book. Basically, don't screw around with her.

Fantastic idea Henry, by the way, to risk altering the mission with somebody like _that._

As Ellie steadied herself, the doors bust open, two cheery members ushering in the group outside. Ellie immediately found a corner where she could brood with a good view of the floor, and beelined to it.

It wasn't like a club or anything; more like a wine and dine get together, with slightly more drunken rowdiness. There were around fifteen members on the first floor, probably more above. She snagged a glass of punch and pretended to drink it as she pressed on her mic.

"How's it going fellas."

Some audible stumbling. Smooth.

"G-good." Henry huffed. Ellie rubbed her eyes. She just ruined another Moment™ didn't she. Well, whatever. This favor made up for more than enough timely interruptions. She'll probably bang pots and pans while they make out in the future, at least once, just to equalize it. "We're on the second floor. 20 members. Half of them intoxicated."

"These guys sure don't waste time." Ellie put down the cup and wandered around the main central stairway, keeping track of who went up. "Found a computer yet? General said it should be just the one."

"Rookie mistake." Charles' voice floated over. "What kind of criminal doesn't have a burner computer?" Ellie shook her head in a small smile. A criminal with a private life, that's who.

"Keep me posted. I'll be up on the second floor in five."

She put her mic back on silent, leaning against the banister. Not having been to many parties like this one (she's been to raves, nothing close to "elegant") she felt like a fish out of water. She'd have much preferred to be snooping around than pretend to be interested in any- whoa, is that Carol?

Sure matched the profile. Sleek black hair, a matching colored wide brimmed hat. She had a spiffy tux on with a pair of heels that could stab an eye out.

 _Not bad at all_ , Ellie smirked, following her as she walked up the stairs. And aside from appreciating some eye candy, maybe she could do some snooping of her own after all.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


It was getting to be more and more difficult to focus on the objective when Charles kept saying something to make Henry wheeze. At which then he'd return with a zinger of his own, making Charles muffle giggles into his sleeve.

This was nice.

Henry wasn't planning on anything serious with Charles that night (It's NOT a date Ellie). He'd just wanted some time to get to know him better, have a little fun (godwilling the night went smoothly), and maybe drop a hint or ten that he'd be open to suck face with him one day.

Alright, maybe that's a tad more aggressive than Henry usually would be, but something about a suited up Charles made him want to grip his tie and yank Charles in for-

Bad thoughts bad! Focus on the mission. They've only deep searched three rooms at this point, ready to slip through the hall like oil to enter another one. So far, not a bad speed. But they could pick it up.

Then he looked over to where Charles was digging through a dresser with happy little hum parodying some popular song Henry probably heard in the mall once. He pulled out a ridiculous looking hat that vaguely resembled a pickle and propped it on to show Henry, goofy face and all, beaming in an almost childish eager.  
  
And Henry fell apart into tiny little pieces all over again.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


Ellie wasn't sure what possessed her to assume HazMatt was on casual speaking terms with Carol, but she chalked it up to her overall hotness (cause she was honest with herself, unlike SOME people).

"Hey uh, Miss Carol?" She quickly turned, stern eyes narrowing in on Ellie.

"What is it Matt?" Alright, at least she answered.

"I was wondering, er, what exactly this party is for?" Ellie sure hoped the guy was awkward, because that's apparently the persona she was going with. "I-I mean, I know you sent an invitation and all, but I couldn't read the whole thing since, uh... bombs." She scratched her poor, compressed scalp. Not like she had super voluminous hair or anything, but damn did it itch under the wig.

Carol blinked once, twice, before briefly nodding. "Yes, I heard your house got destroyed. Pity." She held a cup of red wine, looked at it as it swirled. Cold.

Ellie was about to repeat her question, when Carol suddenly flicked her eyes to her.

"I'm not surprised though. Take it as a learning experience to _not_ keep a collection of old war weaponry near where you sleep." Ellie nodded quickly. Carol sighed. "This party... wasn't my idea. It was Al's."

Yeahh, she totally knew who that was.

"He told me that the clan needed a morale boost. I don't like parties--they waste time--but, I did agree that it could be helpful right now. That's all."

Ellie rubbed her chin, unsure if she could pull more info out of her.  
Might as well try.

"Wait, isn't Al at the Wall right now? Or am I confused." High five for that one Ellie, smoooth like butter.

"You are mistaken." Carol finally took a sip of wine, which Ellie mentally whooped at. Lips wet with alcohol are loose lips. "Al was broken free the last breakout we tried. But we were only able to break out him and a few others before we were outgunned." A longer sip. "Again."

Now she was getting somewhere!

"Ahh right, of course. Guess I missed out on some stuff, having my house incinerated and all."

"Mhm."

"Mind helping me catch up?"

Carol looked briefly annoyed, but gathered herself. "Fine. What do you need to know."

Oh, _plenty.  
  
_

  
\---  
  
  


They found the computer. Surprisingly fast.

Turns out it was on the third floor, behind the locked attic. Carol must've kept it hidden so far up for a reason, so Henry took that as a good sign as he bagged it.

"Nice! That was quicker than I thought it'd be." Charles stretched, a flap of his dress shirt slipping out. Henry wanted to either tuck it back in or pull the rest out. He did nothing. "Should probably let Ellie know we're done now."

Henry waved his hands.

"Oh? Not yet?"

He fiddled with his fingers, a little frustrated. Henry thought this would be the best time to really clue Charles in. The thrilling adrenaline of a stealth mission, the triumph of completing it, the close quarters--it was the perfect plan! He started out confident, but upon later seeing their banter devolve into more typically platonic interactions (he loved their platonic banter, but he wanted kisses in the mix already), now he was unsure.

He'd tried nearly everything: lingering touches, longing stares, even hanging all over him--he listened to what literally every online article said to do, so why wasn't it working?

"You already do all of those things." Ellie's answer to his struggle echoed in his head, when he'd been lamenting to her in the barracks about an earlier instance, a few days after Charles was discharged from the medical center.  
He gave Charles a flower crown, and Charles gifted one back, dubbing it as a fucking "friendship bracelet, but like, for your head!"  
  
Ellie had only laughed. "You gotta be bolder."

What's bold?

"Er, Henry?" Oh shit, he was spacing out again. An impulse, he blurted out,

"Have you ever dated before?"

Henry saw the exact millisecond Charles' brain went full on elevator music. Alright, that was bolder, right?  
Ellie hadn't probed around much when Charles told her he was bi, to his disappointment, so he might as well find out more now, right??

Charles finally snapped out of his daze, immediately reddening. "Uh! I mean? Yea??"

Henry wiped at his neck, gesturing for him to go on.

"O-oh, so you're uhm.. curious about, my exes?" Yep, that sounded very bad. "Sure, I guess, if you really wanna know. Now." Oh thank goodness. Henry nodded rapidly. He wasn't sure how he'd crawl out of this conversation had he been denied. Charles gave a wry smile.  
"Does.. a kiss in highschool count? Or is it only like, established relationships?"

Henry shrugged. What he really wanted to know was _everything_ , but that might be too greedy for now.

"I started in the military pretty young so, most of my actual dating has happened more or less in the army haha." Oh. Henry's gut sandwiched into itself. Oh that's different.

If it were some college student he'd never see again, Henry couldn't have cared less. But other soldiers? Possibly on the same base as them?? That made it seem so much more closer and, in a way, threatening.

"Really?" Henry croaked out. It was the silliest thing to get worried over, and he knew it. But he still let it worm into him, green and ugly.

"Yep. But not many of em lasted super long cause of, well, long distance over bases and stuff." Charles began to adjust his headphones, a nervous tic. "There was uh, Nancy I remember. And Sara? Oh! Trinity, she was sweet. They all were honorably discharged several years ago though so uh.. yeah."

Henry's eyebrows raised to the ceiling. Charles had gotten some way more than him, which, he wasn't sure why it surprised him so. He's an angel with wreckless tendencies, who wouldn't love him?  
But also... why was it only girls? Hadn't he told Ellie he was bi??

His befuddled curiosity overpowered any and all sense of social tact. "Any guys?"

Charles eyes widened, and he doubled over to keep his coughing down. "H-how, huh? What?"

"What?"

"I-I mean.. uhh..." Charles stopped fidgeting, closing his eyes. "Yes?"

"Charles." Henry cocked his head. Why was he so reluctant to tell him? "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I just-" Charles paused, then sighed. "Nothing. Uhm, guess I was just worried that you wouldn't take to me being bi well? I dunno, sorry, I- wha.. why are you laughing? Henry??"

Him. Straight. Charles had thought he was-

Henry muffled his mouth best he could, but he couldn't stop his wheeze. Not only that, Charles was afraid he might've been prejudiced too? This was richer than the Romanian ruby.

"Oh-oh my god Charles." Henry was fucking crying.

"What? What?" Charles sounding positively baffled only made Henry laugh harder.

"I'm-" Henry shook his head, disbelieving. "I'm bi too."

More elevator music. Henry couldn't stop holy shit.

Charles' mouth opened and closed, several times, but the more Henry laughed, the more it slowly etched into a smile.

"Oh."

"Uh-huh." Henry wiped his tears.

"Ah."

"Yep."

"I uh, may have misunderstood."

"No kidding." Henry huffed fondly. This man was going to be the end of him.

"Wow, hah, I really got worried over nothing huh?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Hehe.. hehehe, oh man. I can't believe it, I'm so silly." Charles' giggles grew into laughs, and Henry couldn't help but join in again. "Geez Henry, I'm so sorry for just assuming!"

Henry shook his head. "Don't be."

"Well. In that case, I'm glad!"

"Yeah?" A fountain of hope in his chest malfunctioned and shot up straight into his throat.

Charles grinned. "Yeah." He clasped Henry's hand in his, a thankful squeeze.

Henry couldn't say anything else, tongue completely stuck. The moon cast an eerie blue through the attic window, not a cloud to hinder its rays, and since when did he get so close all of a sudden?  
Unable to tell if the world was still moving along without them or not, Henry felt himself take a step closer, and-

"Oi! Who's in there?"

Of. Course.

Henry had half a mind to go over to the door and punch whoever was knocking. Charles hurriedly turned on his mic.

"Ellie! We got the computer. Rendezvous at pickup."

"..got it." Her voice was back to normal, which should've alarmed them somewhat, but they had to pull off an escape first.

Henry creaked open the round window and hurriedly tied together some dusty furniture sheets to climb down with. Throwing it out, he slid down to the outside, closely followed by Charles.  
They quickly crawled through the same hole they made in the fence with some wirecutters Henry was thoughtful enough to bring, then booked it to the pickup spot where a dormant helicopter lay waiting.

Charles leapt to the cockpit, asking where the hell Ellie was right as she hopped on board.  
With a firm slam of the doors, the three of them all settled with a sigh.

"What." Ellie stripped off the metal patch on her neck, beeping red, and waved it in front of Henry's face. "Took you so long?"

Henry had a sheepish grin. "Sorry, just had a talk."

"Yeah!" Charles piped up while readying the controls. "We were talking about exes. Liam over here is one." He jacked a thumb towards the co-pilot who, appropriately, had no idea how to respond to that.

Ellie covered her ears two seconds before Henry starting screeching.  
  
  


\---  
  
  


The General had been pleased at how nicely the mission went.  
If, of course, you were to count out when Ellie's voice modifier run out of battery and she had to cough outrageously to excuse herself, RIGHT when things were getting dummy juicy.  
  
To be fair, she did technically get all she could since Carol had launched onto some rant on how some dude named Pendles owed her a shit ton of cash, and there was no steering her out of that. But she didn't need to mention that.

To save face for Henry and Charles, she only brought up the intel she was able to get from Cross, like the greatest friend Henry could've possibly ever asked for she was.

"Cross mentioned how they found out about Dmitri's scattering of the Toppat Clan members, but it would be a long time before they'd be able to recover all their whereabouts. They also seem to have another big plan in store. Something other than the big Wall breakout, I assume."

"Remarkable work Ellie. Those 'big plans' are probably in the encrypted portion of the download Henry got last mission. It's still being broken into, I'll let you know when we crack it." He stroked his long beard. "Another clean success you three, great job. You deserve a week's break, then I'll debrief you on your last mission before the big boy. Dismissed."

After freeing her poor, abused hair and throwing the costume out the window (which, was gracious of her; she could've burned it), Ellie crashed into the fluffiness that was her bed and, though the walls were fairly thick, buried her head under pillows to snuff out any conversation of exes she might hear from the living room.

She loved these boys, she did, but Ellie was not about to hear the intricate details of their dating life. (She did anyway. Charles had a whopping count of seven, while Henry had two from school, apparently. She would've yelled out "Loser", but she dated three so, her rebuttal wasn't the strongest.)

After the two had finished their talk and hopefully smooching, because Ellie might rip her hair out if she had to deal with any more needless pining, Henry knocked on her door to deliver a container full of warm, chocolate chip cookies.

Damn right.


	8. ooh honey honey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just decided to indulge meself and tack on an extra plot w/ Rogers lmo

Something had changed between Henry and Charles since their last mission.

As if someone shifted the overlap of two puzzle pieces and pushed half of it together, the rest still slightly popped up.

Henry couldn't explain it to Ellie, but he could just _feel_ it. In the way Charles now playfully winked at him sometimes after they'd pass each other in the hallways. In the way Henry could now intertwine their fingers during a meeting no problem and they'd resume business as usual. In the way that now every time Henry subtly flirted, Charles would allow himself to get flustered and pretend he was examining his headset for scuffs.

The light was green, and Henry was enjoying every second of it.

"You two are already so disgusting, Christ, how am I going to handle your stinky sweetness when you're actually dating?" Ellie gagged to Henry after witnessing Charles hug him from behind at the start of their break.

And it was this prospect of future dating that really made Henry relish their every moment together with an undertone of excitement. They were _playing,_ and he ate it all up, not a crumb left unsavored.

He still held some doubts every now and again though, whenever he got the idea to ask him out. Hesitant, always a "what if" going on in his mind.  
Still, he figured that he could take his time and enjoy what they got going on for now.

But then, halfway into their week of break, this languid peace was shaken. By someone Henry ought to have thrown out of the helicopter while he still had the chance.  
Liam Rogers.

Having dated four army boys, one of which he knew the name of, only two exes of Charles remained in active duty. Or rather, only two that Henry would have to make sure Charles avoided at all costs.  
  
Okay, that might be unfair of him, and also a little impossible considering they crossed paths with familiar factions all the time, what with the way the Triple Threat bounced all over place during missions. But look, Henry couldn't help it alright? He was _this_ close to securing Charles--sweetly awkward veteran pilot and endearing himbo extraordinaire--and getting to love him all the ways he could and wanted to.

But nooo. Rogers just HAD to wedge his foot in. Nothing ever came to Henry without obstacle nowadays did it?

It had first started with him striking up more friendly conversation during their lunch breaks. Henry thought nothing of it. Charles had other friends on base; he was their golden boy in a sense after all, and it was normal for them to hang out.  
  
But then it had rapidly amped up to friendly _touches,_ lingering rubs on the neck, invitations to hang out with other friend groups, then invitations to hang out with _him only._ The progression climbed so quickly it left Henry reeling.

It had gotten so routine for Henry to grieve about it to Ellie, now whenever Henry knocked on her door, somehow communicating his grumpiness through sound alone, she would open it up and prompt, "What'd he do now?"

Ellie would have nothing but this strangely expectant expression on as Henry complained about how their "pre-honeymoon week" was getting spoiled, and at the end of every rant, she'd only say, "Well, you know what to do right?" and up and leave.

Like he knew what THAT meant.

What was Ellie insinuating here? Murder?? Right under the General's nose??? Because at the rate Liam's bullshit was piling, he just might have to do it.

But what really, _really_ got Henry going, was that he couldn't comprehend why. Why all of a sudden, was he starting to act up with Charles, when before he'd only stick to brief, work-related chats with him?

Henry mulled over all these questions and answered none, as he moped about the base like Eeyore on steroids, because Charles was apparently on another ride with Rogers for the _third_ time this week so far.

Now his previous state of limbo was wormed into by more doubts than ever.

What if.. Charles would actually choose Rogers over Henry?

Henry shook his head, no, come on. They broke up for a reason... which he's actually very curious about now.  
Either way, it's unlikely he'd get back together with an ex. But then again, Charles _is_ ridiculously forgiving.

And, what if, Charles preferred having someone more experienced in the military? Henry and Ellie knew ass all about how the army worked. What they did know was that they got a good cut of a deal from it, and could chill with each other as the Triple Threat. More than enough to stay, but not enough for them to read up on all the terminology they used there. More often than not, Charles had to explain a couple terms and how things worked around here to them. Did he.. find it annoying?  
  
And why wouldn't he want somebody who was a fellow pilot? Somebody he could talk about flying vehicles with??

Henry pinched his temples. He was spiraling again.

But speak (or in this case, heatedly think) of the devil, and they shall come.

"That was pretty fun!" He heard Charles' voice arise from behind him. Turning, it seemed like they had just gotten off their flight. "Hey man, thanks for offering."

"It's all good, really. Just.." Rogers caught sight of Henry, and it was as if a switch had been flicked; Henry could've sworn his face revealed a schemery of sorts. Then, in a move that dropped both Henry's and Charles' jaws, Rogers looped an arm around Charles' waist and tugged. He leaned in to whisper something as he lifted one headphone--lips damn near _in_ his ear, and his jaw just about grazing Charles' neck.  
  
Just as quick as it happened, he let go.

All in all, Charles seemed a bit uncomfortable, but moreso confused at whatever Liam had whispered.  
And Henry? Lit afire from his heels to head Henry? Digging his nails into the palms of his hands Henry? Legitimately a thread away from being charged with manslaughter Henry?

He needed to have a little _chat_ with Rogers.

No no, there'll be no weapons or violence or whatever involved.

None.

Whatsoever.

Rogers left Charles standing in bewilderment, strolling elsewhere. Poor thing was so stunned, he just stood there staring into space for a good minute, and would've probably continued for much longer had Henry not walked up to him.

"H-henry? Oh, hey!" He lit up, and Henry could revel a little bit in how his eyes only brightened like that for him. Well, him, and whenever the prospect of ramming his helicopter into something came up during a mission. Though he figured he could vie in competition with a vehicle.  
But Rogers?  
"How've you been?"

Aside from being bent on bodily harm now, just _peachy._ "Okay. How was your flight?"

"It was alright! Rogers offered to take me to target practice with one of the bigger helicopters. I usually leave those for him since, well, he's obsessed." He answered, like he wasn't obsessed likewise.

"And it was.. _just_ , target practice?"

A sliver of sheepish guilt crossed Charles face, and Henry was near panicking for it. "Uhh... er- oh alright, okay, you got me. Dunno how you figured it out so fast, haha."

What? What?? Figured out the fuck what???

Henry raised a hand, cutting off what Charles was going to say and headed straight for where Rogers left to. Charles was left confused for the second time, at which he just huffed and walked back to their home-sweet-base (he actually found a mat that said that, he couldn't resist) to contemplate life.

On a warpath, Henry went straight for where Rogers had disappeared into: the gym room.

He kicks the door aside, stopping the activity of 10 or so soldiers inside. Marching in long strides to where Rogers seemed to be laughing with four other people.  
Including Ellie, much to his surprise and betrayal.

"Henry?" Ellie saw him first, waving him over. "What brings you here?"

Henry squinted his eyes at Rogers, who had the biggest shit-eating grin on soon as he saw him storm over. He pointed at his chest.

"Need to talk. With him."

The group all looked at each other, simultaneously settling into this weird, indecipherable look.

"Oh no, by all means, go on here." Ellie cajoled. Henry blinked. What?

"Yeah." Rogers nodded. "Whatever you want to tell me, you can say in front of us, right?"

Henry didn't even really know anybody here save for Ellie, but he was annoyed enough to overlook all that.

"We have to talk about what you're doing."

"Yes?"

"With Charles."

The group collectively snickered. Actually, the entire gym did, which, what gives??

"Oh? And what exactly is that?"

Henry's fingers clawed, waving his hands aimlessly. He was never the most well versed, but goddamn if he didn't already rehearse this confrontation in the showers a couple times already.

"You.. you hanging out with him all the time."

"What about it? Charles is my friend."

"He's also your _ex._ " Ellie gave an "oooohhh" in the background. Thanks Rose.

"I mean, he gets along with all of his exes so, there's no hostility here or anything."

Henry wanted to slap his face. HOW was he missing every point? He was gonna have to be direct.

"You know I'm not talking about hostility." Henry took a breath. "You're flirting with him."

Rogers blinked, a little surprised for whatever reason. He recovered fast. "And? Why should you care if I am?"

Henry let a slew of slurred exclamations and curses out, at which Ellie was-was she _recording this?_

"Because.." Ohhh fuck it. "Because _I'M_ flirting with him! I'M the one who's in love with him. And I-I'm going to ask him out soon, so- er.." Well will ya look at that, the entire gym was staring. "..so, unless you want there to be some trouble, back off."

There. That was a decent finish right?

"You're... going to ask him out?"

Unwavering, "Yes."

"When."

Shoot, uhhh- "After this series of missions are over."

"So, after the big one."

"Yep."

"In arresting the Toppat leader-"

"Yes!" He threw his hands up, exasperated.

Then, silence.

He waited for a response to his ultimatum, and prepared himself for virtually _any_ response but the one he got.

Roger burst into a hurricane of cry-laughing, in what seemed to be both triumph and disbelief. Ellie had her phone out, but she was wheezing, as was the rest of the room.

"Finally!"

"My god, thank you."

"Woop woop!"

What in the actual devil tits.

Henry looked around. A few of the solders were thoroughly unimpressed and went back to their workout, but most were cheering. Why??

"Congrats Henry, on finally having a spine!" Ellie slid up and elbowed him in the ribs, _hard._ Jesus she really had been working out for the guns here.

"Okay-okay, stop." Henry held his head in hand. "Can somebody _please_ explain."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Thought you'd maybe get it by now. Dude, we were setting you up."

"What."

"The way you two kept dancing around each other, it felt like it was gonna go on for an eternity! The entire base here got fed up, so a couple of us decided to give you a little more motivation."

"What."

Rogers shook his head, wiping away a stray tear or two. "Good grief, we were just sick of it. You don't even hide it in public!" They weren't THAT bad.  
"You act like you're already dating when y'all aren't. It was driving some of us crazy." Ok _fine,_ maybe they were.

The gym had calmed down by now. Henry eyed them warily, but nobody had any malicious look to their eyes, they honestly just looked relieved.

"So I just pretended to flirt with him whenever you were near. Seemed to have worked." He gestured to him. "And now you're finally going to see your plan through to ask him out!"

What?!

"Hurray!" Ellie finally put her phone away, deeming Henry's mixed expression of relief and horror a good note to end the video on. "And no takesies backsies. Can't wait till the last mission."

"Oh _fuck_."  
Henry's cuss startled peals of laughter more, but he was actually stressed now.  
How was he going to do it? And where? Should he be casual? Or go all out and dress up too? He _was_ also considering just, yaknow, NOT doing it so soon. But if he didn't after all that, he was almost certain the base would kill him.

"Hey Henry?" Ellie nudged him out of his thoughts. "You really don't have anything to worry about. This was honestly my plan to begin with-" She held her hands up when Henry glared at her.  
"Let me explain! So, this was my idea at first. I just wanted you to realize something." She cleared her throat, adopting as serious of a look she could amongst the soldiers' lingering giggles.

"Charles is a nice guy. He's bodied seven people with his, er, charms. However particular they may be. Do you really think he won't get snatched up by somebody else while you're biding time for all of eternity?" Henry's lips soured.  
"You needed a push to actually go for it now, while you're still able to. We're covert ops agents Henry, and while I know we're totally awesome, you gotta take every day you can anyway."

She was right about that. They're epic, and Henry was fairly sure that they'd always come out okay, but there's also always a possibility in their line of work.

"I get why you wanna wait till after the big mission that's coming up. It's technically going to be the most important one yet, putting a lid on the Toppats and all." Ellie sat back down, letting Henry stew on her words. "But once that's done, you better go for it, ok?"

Her words held no real threat, he could easily pick that up. What others might not be able to hear too was her "It's okay if you don't" and "But you know that I'm right" and "So while I may not end you, fucking do it".

With that, Henry heaved a sigh. "Alright, I get it. I'll do it."

"Atta boy."

Just one last thing.  
He turned to Rogers. "Ok- but you're _sure_ you don't like him like that anymore, right?"

"Oh for fuck's sak-"

Rogers waved Ellie off, chuckling. "Don't fret about that. Sure, I liked him for him before, and none of that has changed. But..." He scratched his head. "He is really, _really_ reckless. And he- hey, no, don't roll your eyes, I know you know he's always reckless. The whole lot of you are." He doubly pointed to Henry and Ellie.

"What can I say?" Ellie grinned. "We're all adrenaline junkies."

"Clearly. But when we were dating see, he'd try to fly the choppers I love. The bigger, gamier models. A nice gesture and all, but you can't just do the same tricks with a Mil Mi-25 as you would a, say, UH-60 Black Hawk."

All the model names flew over Henry's head. "Can't he do all flying vehicles?"

"Oh he can. And he can do the same tricks with em all but.. you just-" It was his turn to be flabbergasted.  
"You just don't _do_ that. Look, guy gave me a heart attack everyday is all I'm saying. I mean, just earlier when I took him for practice in my favorite copter, he tried to do a barrel roll in it!"

"Aileron roll." Someone coughed. He shot them a look.

Henry pushed a bit, curious. After all, he'd just been punk'd _hard_. It's the least Rogers could do really. "Is.. that why you two broke up?"

"Uhh, no. It was over some communication issues is all."

Communication issues.

Henry turned around to guffaw his ever living brains out. 

_Communication issues_ \--with Charles? The man who can read him like a cardboard children's book. The man who could interpret Henry's many grunts into one of a thousand different meanings and get it dead on. The man who knows exactly when Henry wants to either go with Plan A or Plan C, go stealth or guns ablazing, stop hugging or lean closer.

Henry bid them farewell as Ellie explained to Rogers why Henry had spontaneously combusted into near maniacal laughter, and figured he should go find Charles now.  
Firstly, to apologize for up and leaving in the middle of conversation. Secondly, to hug. Both for stress relief--because _wow_ did those well meaning assholes put him through the ringer--and to remind himself that Charles was there, all his, his, his and vice versa.


	9. a short pov by Charles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> real fast blurb of my own exploration for why Charles is so chill towards everything, including his own death.  
> my answer in a nutshell: He is simply built different.

Charles had set out to contemplate life after his two _very_ bizarre interactions with Rogers and Henry, and he was going to do it in his jammies dammit.  
Otherwise known as gym shorts and a plain t-shirt scrawled on with some reference he didn't get.

Entering their home, Charles changed and flopped over to the couch, crossed legs dangling over the sofa arms. He sighed, staring up at the smooth ceiling.  
He wished it were bumpy and popcorned, like the ceilings at his old house. That way, he could play connect-the-dots and have at it, instead of actually rummaging through his whirling thoughts.

Welp, might as well unpack it all now.  
  


He liked Henry.

A lot.

As in, a _lot_ a lot.

And that scared him, when nothing much else really could.  
  


That's a start.  
He hummed, sinking further into the cushions.

Since he joined the military straight out of highschool, rapidly climbing through the ranks till he was promoted to being a first officer pilot for special missions only, Charles had developed his flying skills to the point of no return.

In other words, he’d done pretty much everything. He flew all the possible major variations in flying vehicles, done all the possible tricks one can feasibly do in them, even some of the more unfeasible ones.

And he only came this far due to his passion.  
Soon as he sat in that pilot's seat, he just _knew_ that this was what he wanted to do.  
Live by the chopper, die by the chopper, and indeed had he lived by it dutifully.   
Having wrung that rag dry now, all that there was left was the latter. Which, didn’t really shake him as much as he’d expect. In fact, it was almost exciting. The means to the end was really the only and last stunt he wanted to give a go. Not dying or whatever; just, the stuff before.

Charles had always taken a nonchalant approach to.. well, life in general.  
It’s not like he didn’t care for himself. He got by like anyone else and truly enjoyed his career.  
It was more like, Charles would coast the smooth, lapping waves of fate and let himself ride along with whatever came his way. He drifted about like a doll, rooted down by pretty much nothing, and it was peaceful that way.  
If it ever so happened that he could easily drift into that stream to eternal void, he'd shrug and let the choice run its course as if he were picking between vanilla or chocolate.

While he couldn’t ever quite pinpoint exactly why he was that way, he knew very well of its ramifications.

It had been the main reason every relationship thus far hadn’t worked out in the long run.  
  
It never hindered any friendships, but every time he found somebody to connect to romantically, they just didn’t _click_ in perfectly. And frequently, his laidback tendencies to all things dangerous seemed to be at fault.  
It annoyed them, frustrated them, worried them, etc.

He closed his eyes, recalling back to one of the rougher breakups.

"Charlesy, you're never going to keep anyone when you don't try to keep yourself."

And yeah, he figured that about summed it up nicely.

By now, he’d started to give it up. Hell, the most recent falling off had been with Rogers, and he was a fellow pilot enthusiast like him! If he didn’t work out... well.  
  
He stopped dating for a while, and hadn’t felt it cross his mind since.  
  
Charles opened his eyes again.

Till all of a sudden, Henry came into his life and opened up a new, interesting path.

For as much as Charles yearned to crash his helicopter in a gloriously fantastic explosion, those opportunities only came now and again in the form of miscellaneous solo missions. After all, he’s the pilot. He doesn’t get to contribute any major planning of his own unless explicitly asked to by his superiors. And as always, he was cool with that, so long as he could fly.

Now that his involvement had become normalized through his new faction though, he was more than just cool with it. He was elated.

But then, something peculiar happened. That typical urge of his to go “meh” and ram his copter into some building, had marginally decreased the more he spent time with Henry.  
Believe it or not, he’d actually been holding back since they’ve become the Triple Threat (oh fine, don’t believe it then).

Those same old urges were now restrained by new ones, and it only ever really happened with Henry.  
Not to mention their recent shift in chemistry. Ever since that last mission, they seemed ever closer to clicking in together, perfectly, at last.

And _man_ did that scare him.  
Because, what if? What if he--they--actually worked out?  
  
If they didn't, Charles would no doubt be sad, maybe inhale a tub of ice cream or two, but he'd be able to move on. Act as if nothing happened. He's always been able to do it before, even today when Rogers acted.. strangely, on and off.  
It takes no effort to remember and delve through wistful memories of hushed words during private flights, fumbling in the dark, velvet skin. But it also takes no effort for him to Simply Not, and so he doesn't.

...But if it does work out?  
Charles likes to think he can adapt fairly well to any new situations on field, but _that_ kind of new--groundshaking fear of losing something precious--just might do him in.  
It really just might, and still he would wholeheartedly accept it. Not in his regular dog-on-fire "this is fine" manner, but in a hungry way. Active, and eager.

The door jostled open, and Charles sat up with a start. Alright moody existentialist thoughts, party time is over. Shoo.

"Charles!" It always felt nice to hear Henry call for him like that, considering how he usually prefers to remain quiet if he can. He's glad he's worth the effort.

"Heya Henr-" Charles tried to stand up to greet him, not at all expecting the sudden embrace. "O-oh, haha, nice to see you too." He returned the hug tightly, soaking it up. Henry shuffled closer till they were practically cuddling on the couch.

Their hug went on for much longer than any normal hug could've or should've possibly gone on for, but neither minded.

"Not complaining or anything but.. there a reason for this?"

"No." _Yes._

"Hm." Henry's hands lingeringly rubbed his back, and _wow_ didn't that just feel like home? "Okay."

Maybe there's nothing to be scared about after all. If anything, he knows they'll remain close friends no matter what. So if they happen to ever become something more... well, Charles will be sure to love, and love best he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thinking through it, I do think having this sort of "aight life whatever" attitude is funny and fits Charles, but it can also provide conflict! As in, you're stuck in that "oh ok then" mode forever and even though you wanna get out of it, it's like nnnnghh nah lmo  
> Nothing can break you free except for time or something.. exciting enough to snap you out of it ;)
> 
> Back to our regularly scheduled program!


	10. mini mission tres

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALS ARE FINALLY FUCKING OVER AAAAAAA
> 
> I actually was halfway through the chapter before finals hit, but then my computer restarted and I had to start over hhh  
> Really hate when that happens. I always lose all motivation :s
> 
> Welp, here it is lol

Reginald knew this would happen. Soon as Carol had called in a fury, saying that her work computer had been stolen, he _knew_ something would come out of it.  
Ever since their rocket was hauled to the Wall, they've had all but three remaining bases left in Canada, where they took to filling it up with as many valuables they could steal back again.

It was going decently well, considering how they lost pretty much everything.  
Least until the government had found and raided two of their bases, effectively shutting down all operations there. He supposed it was a small saving grace that they didn't find the biggest base of the three, but now things were starting to get desperate. And everyone could feel it.

Reginald suspected the Triple Threat were behind all this, had to be, so during the raid he was able to get Curtis and what tech experts they had left to try hack into a military channel and steal their files.  
They were thankfully able to swipe it right when somebody discovered and shut them out for good. With their since heightened security, that's all they'll be able to get.

"I just don't understand how they keep stealing from us!" Reginald leaned back in his chair with a wail. "We're a top criminal organization for thieves for crying out loud!" His Right Hand Man stood beside him, stoic as usual, but helpfully patting a hand on his back.

"Ey, least we got their files now." He gestured to the folders on their table, alongside other maps and papers scattered about. "Time to make do with what we've got."

"I suppose." Reginald huffed, opening them up. "Though there isn't terribly much to rummage through. Henry's rap sheet is impressive enough, so is Ellie's... but we already knew of their skills. And their pilot's files don't reveal much either. We need something we can use against them for the upcoming raid."

RHM hummed. "Can't get much personal intel on them with these, no. Could always wedge in an extra mission to try to find out more."

Reginald shook his head. "Too close to the date. And we can't change it now, or else they'll know that we found out. Just..." He pinched his temples.

"Come on, it's time for a break. You always do better after a breather." He received a sigh, but no objections, so he took away the files and set them down. "Right, up and at em."

The two got up and trekked the long stairs leading to the frosty outside.

  
  
\---

  
  
Henry knew this would happen.  
Knew that Ellie would somehow use that video she took of Henry literally confessing how he _loved Charles_ and lord it over him.  
  
Look, it was in the heat of figurative battle, alright? He was impassioned.  
Sure, he meant it, but Charles certainly doesn't need to know that just _yet_.

Which means he also has to heed Ellie's every beck and call now, curse her- this was the _third_ time she's made him do her laundry!

"Why are you so evil." Henry muttered through piles of dirty pants, scuffed from use. He was pretty sure she was mainly doing this as extra incentive for him to confess already so she can't use the clip as blackmail anymore. But he already said he would do it dammit! "So evil to me."

"Serves you right for subjecting me to your romantic drama 24/7. 'Oh Ellie, I MUST tell you for the twelfth time how Charles' biceps show through his pajamas whenever he flexes', for fuck's sake."

Despite the basket smelling like both sweat and a peculiar mix of sap and salsa, he buried himself deeper to hide his face. "Evil."

"You can't tell me that's NOT how you sound like."

"Leave me alone! His tank tops are see through!!"

Before Ellie could quote word for word anymore of Henry's poetic rants (he was really starting to wish he had vented to a cactus instead of her) the two startled at a sudden incoming ringtone. Henry promptly dropped the laundry on the floor, instantly knowing who it was. He answered the phone over Ellie's slew of complaints.

"Charles!"  
Ellie looked up to the ceiling, wishing to ask god or satan--anyone really--how Charles doesn't catch onto the gallons of love dripping off that single greeting alone. "What's going on? Uh-huh.. yeah.. oh really? Okay, sure. We'll come over right now."

"Will we now." Ellie paused in picking up her clothes. Henry pocketed the phone.

"Yep. General just briefed Charles now and wants us to plan something."

"Oh joy."

"Thought you liked making plans?"

"In the air. But old school hunched-over-the-table-with-a-swinging-lightbulb-overhead planning? Bleh."

"That's awful specific."

"Don't you know it."

The two went back and forth on overly specific metaphors and laundry till they reached their normal meeting room.

"Guys!" Charles beckoned them over.

"Well will you look at that." Ellie nudged Henry upon noticing Charles' flimsy tank top. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's got some laundry to unload."

Henry discreetly flipped the bird under the table.

"Hm? Oh yeah, this is my last shirt haha. Gotta get on that." He straightened. "But after this! So, the general's just notified me that they were able to impound two Toppat bases from the intel our technicians managed to hack so far from Carol's computer."

"Already?" Ellie quickly checked her phone. "Not even a statement's been released."

"Yea, it's pretty recent. Like, they _just_ finished background checking the last few toppats unfortunate enough to have been there."

"Suckers."

"Yep. And now, since the general was pretty happy with our haul, he changed up our final mini mission." Charles rolled open a large map across the table. "They only have one base left. He wants us to find it."

Everyone leaned over the Canadian stretch, of which both Charles and Ellie will never let him live down how he thought it was Russia the entire time at the complex.

 _"Fucking Russia?"_ Ellie had mercilessly taunted. _"Even I knew we were in Canada!"_

Charles hadn't helped, with all the poorly masked laughing he gave. _"To be f-fair, a lot of the Wall's faculty were Russian. And he was kidnapped."_ More laughter, god damn them all.

Henry put aside any past _bullying_ and refocused on the map.

"Why does he want us to find their last base if we're going to capture the leaders anyway at their prison break?" Ellie asked.

"There's bound to be some Toppats who either escape, or stayed back as recon. If the government's already at their last base when they retreat..."

"Ooh, okay. Caught off guard, and they'll be at their weakest."

"Right. It could be the final blow for them! Okay, see these five spots? Those are the places Galeforce was able to narrow down. It's gotta be one of em. Just need to figure out which places to hit first."

"Hm." Henry perused the map a bit before looking up at Ellie. "Forty bucks says that we'll get it our first try."

"Pfft, we're not THAT lucky." Ellie rolled her eyes, already taking out her wallet. "Fifty says it'll be our second."

"You two!" Charles whined. "No betting, come on."

"Why not? It's not illegal, right?"

"I mean, probably not, but it still _feels_ illegal."

"Eighty."

"Henry!"

  
  
\---

  
  
...

Henry owed a certain redhead eighty bloody bucks.

He pouted as Ellie wore her victory look throughout the entire helicopter ride down. Sure it was cool to not have to go through all the spots, but he still had to cough up not only eighty dollars, but eighty percent of his dignity.  
He was the one who _upped_ the stakes.

"Alright, we're here." Charles stood after the vehicle was safely parked by some snow draped evergreens. "Just a couple photos should be good, and we've got to scope out the area. It's not much on the surface though. 90% of the base is underground."

"Hm, that's all?" Ellie tapped her chin. "How bout we do more?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, we could also sneak in and see what intel we can gather from their ground level floors? We've got time so, might as well."

Charles scratched his cheek. "Uuh, I mean so long as you're careful not to get caught or let them know that you were there, then yea. We can go for it."

"Cool. Got our bags?"

Charles tossed them over. As Ellie and Henry prepared to leave the heli, Charles wavered by standoffishly.

"Um, so er.. do you think it'll be alright if I... tag along again? Totally cool if not, but I thought it was super fun last time so uh, yea."

Henry was already nodding rapidly since "tag along", but they all knew it ultimately came down to Ellie, judging from the fact that they both looked to her.  
She shrugged.

"Like you said, just be careful I guess." Charles perked up, bounding out of the chopper with a toothy grin. Ellie glanced at Henry and mouthed "Ninety".  
Henry just barely stifled his curses.

  
  
\---  
  
  


The extra ten dollars were totally worth it.

They had to park a good mile away from the base, so a long hike was in store for them.  
Somewhere along the way, Charles linked hands with Henry. He startled, but quickly reciprocated. Charles wouldn't look his way till the very end of the walk (and only after Ellie took about thirty pictures or so with the camera she called dibs on of course), giving a wary smile after letting go.

"There it is." Charles coughed, bringing his fists to mouth to warm them. Their clothes were fairly cold-resistant enough, but there's only so much warmth leather fingerless gloves could offer. "Ellie?"

Ellie took _one_ snapshot of the view, then pocketed the camera.  
She balked at the stares the boys gave her. "What?"

Henry shook his head in a smile. "Send me those later."

Ellie led the entourage towards the base, lowering her voice. "There's bound to be something we can snag or learn on ground level. How're we going to enter?"

Henry squinted. It looked like a typical warehouse, rusty and unassuming. An outside staircase, airduct on the roof, and the front garage doors.

"..the staircase has a lot of footprints on it."

Ellie nodded. "Probably guarded. How about that roof vent?"

Henry almost thought to wait for an array of options to appear before his eyes. "Hrm." Yeeah, not so easy without any wacky gravity-defying contraptions.

"It looks like the garage doors are kinda rolled up." Charles pointed to the narrow opening at the bottom. "And there's no footprints round there. I mean, we could probably just waltz on in?"

They all looked at each other.

"Aight."

The three crept up to the garage door, Henry being the first to crouch over and take a peek inside. He waved them in, clear.  
Once inside, they took a few seconds to thaw their clothes out, then booked it to the piles upon piles of boxes.

Ellie snooped about them. "Wow, they're all empty. Just a bunch of styrofoam."

"This one's shaped like an elephant!" I don't need to tell you who said that.

With Henry leading and Ellie in the back, the three snuck from room to room, but found nothing too useful. Just more boxes and junk to pose as a warehouse.

"Welp." Ellie tsked. "Guess this was a bust. Let's just go back-"

Henry froze, hearing something from one of the doors they passed. The other two bumped into his back.

"What is it?"

"Think there's some toppats in that room."

"You two eavesdrop, I'll keep watch." Ellie moved to the end of the hallway, using a cardboard box she brought along as cover.

Charles tried peeking through the cracks while Henry leaned his ear against the door, careful to not push it open.

"..comin up. Why haven't we got some sort of plan yet?"

"I don't know. The chief's said that we got the element of surprise now, but how's that work?"

A noncommittal sound, Henry could practically see the shrug.

Charles looked back out, whispering, "Just two toppats in there. Uhh, pink hat and blue hat? I dunno. I'd say the only important thing in the room is that coffee machine." He moved aside so Henry could see.

Now they were _lucky_ Charles had decent reflexes; he was able to stop Henry from firing off his gun _right_ as the finger reached the trigger.

"Whoa!" Charles held onto Henry's hands tightly, then slowly pried the gun out of his iron grip. "Henry, what are you doing?"

Henry couldn't quite hear him, on account of having his entire torso locked up from who he recognized. One guy, Sven he was pretty sure, was off to the side sipping out of a mug. He almost felt bad for the guy, considering all the times he had to directly apprehend him in other timelines.  
But the other one, only came up in one timeline, and he was starting to seriously consider that maybe, just maybe, life was fucking with him a little.

Jacked Hughman. And while Henry could keep his intrusive memories under wraps for the most part, he'll be damned if he didn't get to shoot him in the face at least once after fantasizing about it for an hour during that dreaded pod ride back to Earth.

"Hen!" Charles jostled Henry out from his death glare to the perp. "What is..."  
He searched Henry's unseeing eyes and frowned. "That's it, we're outta here."

"Oi, somebody there?" The toppat who just very narrowly survived called out. Ellie jumped up, hesitating only a second before helping to drag Henry out back to the main entry room, who was still giving half tried attempts at marching on back to the room.  
They quickly slid out under the front garage door, and kept tugging Henry until they crashed into a fluffy bush. Once sure that they weren't being followed, Charles snapped his fingers a couple times in front of Henry's face.

"Alright, this is getting kind of concerning. Ellie?" Charles nodded towards the warehouse.

"I'll watch again, but try to snap him out of whatever's going on." She trudged ahead, crouched by some lowhanging trees closer to the base.

Henry's hands started to shake. Dammit, he shouldn't be so affected by this so much. Not anymore anyway.  
Charles held his hands firmly, rubbing them.

"C'mon Hen, seriously. Are you okay?"

Henry set his jaw, lips grimly pressed together. It was stupid. It was dumb, and he couldn't believe he was willing to blow their entire cover for a pointless kill. But most of all, he was embarrassed at how he still _wanted_ to. It shouldn't matter, not anymore.  
It didn't happen, it didn't happen, it didn't happen.

Charles sighed. "Look, if you don't wanna say, that's fine. But um, you gotta understand, I can't really help you unless you tell me what's up?" He paused, raising above the bushes to call Ellie over.

"Can't see any guards. Should be good." Ellie responded.

"Okay. It's starting to get colder. Here, take the keys to the helicopter. You can go on ahead and warm up inside, we'll catch up."

Ellie caught the keys. "You sure?"

Charles nodded, pulling Henry up to his feet. Ellie didn't look too convinced, but she also was freezing her ass off, so she moved on back the way they came from.

Once steadied, Henry and Charles wandered alongside the forest line for a few minutes, the latter rattling away while trying to help soothe Henry's tense back.

"Technically, this mission was complete since we took that photo. No biggie if we didn't find any extra intel. I did find a bunch of mugs in one of the boxes though. Had a cute cat drawing on it. Think I'm more of a dog person though, I dunno. Animals are pretty cool."  
Henry sidled closer to Charles' side, who enveloped him in a flap of his jacket.

Eventually, Charles paused and took in a deep breath, exhale coming out as a long puff of white.

"..those guys in that room. You uhm, gave this pretty intense look to one of em. Was it the one with the pink hat?" More like a pretty _and_ intense look, but Charles brushed that thought off. Right now, he had to help Henry calm down. After ramblings of old stories didn't work, he angled it back to their mission to try and get him to release all the thoughts undoubtedly swirling behind those eyes. Dark brown with the whole universe inside.  
  
If ranting had helped Henry before when he shared his old ability, it should help again now right?

Henry gripped his arms, groaning. "..It's... just silly."

Charles shook his head, rubbing Henry's arm. "I think a lot of things are pretty silly, but anything really bothering you- I won't ever think that's silly." They stopped walking. The two were going back and forth along the outskirts of the forest, and finally returned back to where they entered from.  
"Like I said, you don't HAVE to share. But.. I think it'll help you to let it out?"

Henry rubbed his eyes. "I know.. yeah." He sighed. "It um, has to do with that timeline thing I told you and Ellie about?"  
Charles nodded quickly. "Well, last time I got a really bad reaction from recalling them during a mission was er, the first minor one?"

"I remember. After it, that's when you told us."

"It.. only happened when I recognized someone who only showed up during _that_ route. You know the one." Charles nodded again. Then he snapped his fingers.

"Ohh, so mister pink hat was one of em then huh?"

A gulp. "Yes, but.. but- ugh fuck." Henry wrested out of the comfortable nest he made out of Charles' inner jacket. Biting cold, he immediately regretted it, but nevertheless turned around and looked to the sky. "Christ, I don't get why I reacted like that. I shouldn't have tried to kill him, but.."

Charles carefully tread up to him from behind, holding his arms out to Henry's side hesitantly in permission. Henry walked backwards into them, so Charles hugged him tightly.

"He's the one who got me killed, right."

Blunt, but it had to be done. Henry abruptly turned around, still in the other's arms.

"He grabbed me out of the pod, and you--idiot you--threw me back in and closed the doors." Henry's eyes, despite his best efforts, were thickly wet. A single snowflake away from spilling over. "Didn't have to do that y'know. During all that timeline bull, I couldn't die, not really. Should've just.."

"You know I'd never let you die Henry, not before me anyway."

"Fucking-" Henry tried to get out again, but Charles kept holding onto him. So instead, he halfheartedly punched Charles on the chest. "Dammit Charles. Why-"

"Why am I like this, I know." Henry paused, finally looking dead on to Charles' eyes. Tired, like him. "And uh, I really can't answer that? I don't know. Just um, chalk it up to me being an army boy or something. But even if I wasn't.." Charles held up Henry's jaw with both hands.

"Even if I never sworn myself to help other people or put civilians first. Even if I only knew you for a few days, or I knew about your ability, or I.." Both of their misty breaths mingled into each other.  
"I would've done it. Again and again. Because you're _Henry Stickmin_. You uh, you're pretty special y'know? With or without those crazy powers you had."

Unbelievable. "What in the name of fuck are you talking about. You, you're all-" Henry madly gestured to Charles up and down.  
"This! You're Charles Calvin. You are so kind to everyone by default, you're the actual physical incarnation of summer days or, or other cute shit like that. You're just--" Another frantic wave. "So. Good. And I'm ju-"

"An incredibly skilled and talented agent, caring friend who can make me laugh forever, daredevil with confidence that's not at all arrogant somehow, and such-" Charles mimicked the gestures Henry made back at him.  
"A good listener. I always feel heard with you. You're... man, I'm not sure if I should really say this now? Here?? But uh, you're really close to my heart???"

He scratched his neck, not at all surprised to find sweat there even with the freezing weather. "Yeah. You, are amazing. I don't care if you were a criminal before. People change all the time. And you? Believe it or not, but you always were the same."

Henry opened his mouth to retort.   
Charles kissed it.

"No listen, you-" He blinked, twice, realizing.  
  
In a ludicrous shade of cherry, he still pushed through while Henry gawked at him, because he just _had_ to make sure Henry knew how much he was worth. "Y-you uh, you told me h-how you could've chosen to side with us or the Toppats. You said that it was a pretty tough call at first." Good god, did he really just do that? Did he have all the self control of a toddler?? On fire. He was on fire.  
  
Charles swallowed hard, refusing to let go of Henry's face. "Even th-then, before you chose us or not, you were the same. You gave me this.. this impression? That no matter what you'd be thrown into, you'll always find a way out. No matter what. And even if that'd uh, usually, end up more morally ambiguous or whatever- it drew me, ok?"

Henry slowly wrapped his arms around Charles, which, fine, throw him off his rhythm why don't ya. He doesn't need to breathe.

"O-okay, and uh, jeez. Gonna be honest. I'm already forgetting where I was going with that. But point is, you're you, and that's awesome. All of it. You're awesome. And er, don't you forget it, alright?" He was talking a lot. Parched throat and all. Should probably stop.  
"I'm no sunshine Henry. You are. You're like this.. fire. But like, really nice fire? White fire--does that make any sense at all--you-"

Henry kissed the corner of Charles' lips, surprisingly shy about it, which only made Charles' heart swell even more and he needed a chair, right now, his knees were about to crumble and make him stagger to the ground like a grandma- he needed a chair.

"-you have this fire that fuels your every move, and it fires me up too-" A kiss on the other corner. "-like it warms and cools me-" Just below the lower lip. "-it's just perfect really, and it drives you on in this insanely attractive way-"

"I think." Henry's blush was just about as bad as Charles', but he managed to not keel over that instant and die a million deaths like he thought he would if Charles ever kissed him first, and kept his voice as steady as he could. "That I get it now."

"You, um. What?"

"You're this sweet, selfless idiot that I'm in love with, and I'm apparently this 'cool', stubborn bastard-"

"That I'm in love with." Charles added. Henry was fucking breathless.  
"Just, figured if you were gonna do that whole parallel thing. But uh yeah... yeah, I said a lot of things." And really, so did Henry. Or at least, it sure felt like it. He'd gotten used to speaking more and more, so his dry tongue was probably more from _motherfucking Charles saying that he loves him_ than anything else.  
  
They somehow managed to get even closer to one another, Henry having to tilt his head ever so slightly up. Then to the side.  
"To sum it all up... I guess the closer we got, the more I loved every single bit of you. Everything."

"Extremely selfish."

"That's normal, everybody's selfish."

"A thief."

"Former. Well, actually. You did technically steal-"

"Don't do it."

"-my-"

"God."

"-heart." Charles grinned cheekily.  
  
If the winds were any stronger, they'd have already been in smoochland a long time ago.

"...everything?"

"All of you."

And finally, after that gigantic goo-fest of unbearably mushy love stuffs and all the sap you could possibly squeeze out the collective rainforests of the world, they both leaned in, and met each other.

It was no more than five seconds, but it felt like a devastatingly short forever to Henry.  
Pulling from the kiss, eyes fluttered open, the giddiness of them both radiated off as much as their heat.

Charles let go of Henry's face at last, hands falling to Henry's arms. His voice couldn't come out in anything higher than a whisper. "..Anything that might've happened in those other timelines, you don't have to worry about anymore. That toppat did nothing to you here, and hey, they're all about to be arrested anyway. You're.. you're good. Yea?"

Right. Henry nodded, burrowing his face into the hot, hot crook of Charles' neck.  
Sure, Charles thought Henry was "fire" (in many senses of the word), but Charles ran like the motherfucking sun and no one could convince him otherwise. Warm beyond belief, he stayed like that for a few minutes longer, until Charles gently pecked his head.

"Uhm. This is great, but I just realized that Ellie probably doesn't know how to turn on the heater so.."

Henry snorted, moving out of their cocoon just enough so that the two could walk back to the helicopter.  
This was by no means a solution to his annoying physical ties to those memories, but Henry could already feel the stress bleed away, along with the bloodlust for revenge. Hell, he should've known better than anyone that revenge isn't worth shooting for.

He also knew that no one was really in large at fault for that final route, and there's nothing to do about it but focus on the riches he gained in the end from all that random, timelining shenaniganry. So he did.  
Henry Stickmin led a stable, comfy life as a covert ops agent with two of his best friends--family really-- _and_ he just got to smooch the one he had the biggest, fattest crush on.  
So there.

  
  
\---

  
  
Being out in the cold wasn't detrimental to RHM's cybernetics or anything, but it was irritating. If he stood out in the snow long enough, he grew stiff, and sometimes the human parts got sore close to the machine parts.

But he didn't mind it as much here, standing out on the top of their cover of a base, stroking Reginald's shoulders in an attempt to either massage him or warm him, whichever came first.  
Reginald eventually stopped grumbling about the weather, instead looking out over the winter wonderland. Er, wasteland. Canada.

"..thank you, for all that."

RHM paused in his ministrations. "What'd you mean?"

"Everything."

He chuckled. "Course Reg. Relax, and don't think about the raid now. Jus-"

"Hold on." RHM followed Reg as he hunkered over, eyes squinted at something afar.

"What's wrong?"

"You.. do you see that? Over there, by the shrubbery."

RHM looked to where Reg pointed, zooming in with his cyborg eye.  
 _Interesting._

"I can't quite make it out. Should've brought my binocula- oh, why thank you. You really are a blessing you. Now let's see.." RHM stood by, waiting with a small smirk. He could pinpoint the exact second when the idea struck Reginald.

He put down the binoculars, turning to stare at RHM. A smirk of his own grew, and he snatched RHM's wrist as he ran back downstairs to the meeting room.

"This." If he could, he'd be twirling a moustache end right about now. "Will be the greatest plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o boi o boi o boi i don't know how to write confession scenes o boi o boi o boi


	11. a last crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter is all chopped up into many different chunks because I'm a dum dum who never outlines! Hope you enjoy.

The very first thing Henry said to Ellie once they got back to the chopper, before she could spout on about how she was left for dead to the icicles, was:  
"You can't laundry blackmail me no more."  
  
Charles, was righteously confused. It took Ellie a second, but then she noticed their intertwined huddle in Charles' jacket and _screamed_.

"E-Ellie!" Charles waved her down with frantic hands. "What if someone-"

"Oh they won't hear shit." Ellie dismissed, pulling Henry over to their usual seats. "And even if they do, they'll probably think it was just a gopher or something."

"What do gophers even sound like." Charles muttered as he hopped into the cockpit, turning the engine on.

Ellie poked a finger at Henry's chest. "You, are going to explain ALL the details, because I have had to _suffer_ for this in every way. So spill." Ellie cushioned herself against a mound of parachutes comfortably, waiting.

Henry embarrassedly fiddled with the hem of his clothes at first, but soon as the helicopter was up in the air and the blades provided decent filler noise, it took little effort for Henry to start gushing on about the details--with Ellie soaking it all up.  
After Ellie had apologized to Henry profusely for wanting to further their intel mission to begin with, and Henry smacked her insisting that it wasn't her fault, he began to get more into what they said. Specifically, what Charles said.

A few parts were audible to the pilot and he shook his head with a small smile, a sticky fondness clutching his chest at what spare words he heard.  
He really did adore the man, and wanted to make him as happy as he just did now, ideally all the time, every day, for the rest of eternity maybe.  
But..

..and there's ALWAYS some kind of but..

He still kept trying to prepare himself for the inevitable. Since the beginning, Henry had already shown tons of stress at Charles' crashtacular tendencies. It'll only be a matter of time until he realizes that this constant stress, would wear the relationship down.  
It's happened again and again before. And while it is true Charles sees his love for Henry as something threateningly new and intense, that isn't to say that Henry won't react the same way as everybody else. It's.. a pretty normal reaction honestly, and Charles completely understood it.

"..he called you fire??"

"No--I mean, yes--but not like that-"

Charles chuckled, catching onto that snippet. He meant it when he said he thought Henry was something of a blazing star. Always moving, focused, _active_. Charles had almost laughed when Henry called him the "sun", several weeks ago. If anything, he was just some ice cube chilling down the lemonade river of life.  
  
Laidback, okay with leaving said river, with a sort of distanced soldier mentality- (after all, they were in active military duty. Not everyone always came back) all of these mixed together... perhaps that was the cause for every falling out.  
He'd still live everyday normally as one does, still love the ones he loved, but deep down, he always held back _just_ a little because of the above.  
But, he didn't think he'd be able to hold back when it came to loving Henry, not really. So wh-

"Whoa!" Charles snapped out of it, just barely dodging an incoming flock. "Whew. Sorry guys, evasive maneuvers. Man, the mechanics would get so upset if some ducks got into the propeller again _._ " He snuck a peek back, suppressing a snicker at the pile of bags and junk now burying the two.

"We were just getting into the good parts Charles!" Ellie's muffled voice somehow carried over.

He smiled, returning back to the controls, not bothering to resume his train of thought.  
What it boiled down to was that something new was coming, and Charles was going to have to get over it one way or another. Whether it ends well or poorly, he doubted it'd be up to him, so, c'est la vie right?

  
  
\---

  
  
The General thanked the Triple Threat for their work and immediately launched into their plans.  
With troops well on their way to camp out the thicker parts of the forest by the last Toppat base, ready for ambush, Galeforce prepped the three on the Wall after a few days of break (honeymooning rather, let's be real here. Everyone was both delighted and sore over lost bets).  
It was finally time for one of their biggest missions yet.

"In just a couple hours, y'all are going to meet with Dmitri to help plan out the Wall's defense. From what our technicians expert Gordon could gather, the Toppat raid should be around dusk."  
It had been a minor pleasantry to find out Henry's squad in his route to become a Master Bounty Hunter were all well and alive. He didn't get too attached to them or anything--it was near impossible to when doing anything during that whole timelining mess--but it had definitely been a shock when RHM practically nuked them all in one fell swoop.

"Now, I know you've had negative encounters with the Wall before, but I've sorted things out with them. They won't try to arrest you." Ellie and Henry exchanged looks.  
"Having that said, you do have grounds to distrust him, so I'll be sending a couple soldiers to help keep things in check." Henry shrugged; he could live with that.

The General pulled down the Wall's map again. "Dmitri mentioned seeing no layout patterns in any breakout attempt, so you'll have to be prepared for anything. If you need assistance, you can call me with the codeword to redirect some troops to the Wall as backup. Remember, ONLY call them as a last resort. I'd like to keep our advantage there."

Everybody saluted. "Right then, get ready. Charlie, you'll be bringing em up in the air in an hour or so."

They left the meeting room, an air of anticipation shared between the trio as they walked back to their dormings. Once inside, and after Henry went off to take a quick shower, Ellie laid across the couch with a sigh.  
"Say Charles.." Ellie started, making him look over. "How come the General always calls you Charlie?"

He shrugged (and hey! both shoulders were finally a-ok again) with a grin. "He's been my commanding superior for nearly my entire career here. Guess he's just gotten used to me or something."

"Hm." She yawned, not buying it but not digging any deeper either, and rolled over in the couch to see him better. "..For this mission, you're not going to be having any 'great plans', are you?"

He smoothly disguised an arm twitch into a stretch. "I dunno. If it's called for, maybe?"

"Charles." He sighed, looking straight into her eyes. "I worry." He nodded. "The General worries."

"He does?"

"And most of all, Henry worries."

He bit his lip. "I know what you're getting at."

Ellie shifted to prop herself up on the sofa arm. "Only thing I'm getting at right now, is for you to promise me that you won't try anything super dumb."

"What's your definition of dumb?" He wryly smiled. Ellie simply stared him down, and he groaned, not bothering to start a staring contest. She always wins. "Fine, fine. I promise not to do anything ridiculously life-endangering."

Ellie smirked. "Pinkie promise?"

Charles looked at the extended pinkie for a while, before giving in and linking it. "Pinkie promise."

Content, Ellie laid back down on the couch again.  
  
As tired as she's been getting over the two boys cranking up their disgustingly-sweet PDA ever since they've officially started dating (one time, for fun, she counted how many times they kissed each other in one hour. Bloody _47,_ never doing that again), she obviously does want them to last. Ellie knows they have a good connection between them, one that even most married couples she's seen don't have.  
  
And all that would obviously be ruined if they idiotically _died_ or some shit.  
So then and there, she swore to protect them from anything and anyone who'd try and get in their way, which is frankly an oath she'd probably already taken subconsciously when the three were first starting to get settled into their roles as a unit, but still.  
Might as well make it official.

  
  
\---

  
  
"Here the fuck we go." Ellie reflected Henry's sour look when they arrived at the Wall, touching down on the helipad. Unfortunately, Charles couldn't tag along with them this time, ordered to stay back up in the air as backup, so it was down to the good old fashioned Ellry pair to handle things on field.

"Remember, if you feel like you might get into trouble with any Wall faculty, say flanksteak!" Charles helpfully reminded in their mics, before switching himself mute.  
Henry already felt like saying it when they found themselves (and a few other soldiers) in front of Dmitri's office door.

"Ready?" Ellie nudged him. He nodded. "Kay, let's do this."

She swung open the door, the both of them startling at how close Dmitri was to the door already, as if he were just waiting there the whole time, hands behind his back.  
Creep.

"Ah. Welcome back, Henry and Ellie. Long time no see." Dmitri's thick accent was only occasionally obstructed by a lisp, having lost a decent number of teeth thanks to Ellie. He stepped aside to let them in the room. "The Wall became rather empty after you two broke my pe-"

"Shiny 50 year record of no breakouts, yeah, we get it." Ellie cut him off, much to Henry's surprise. Though he didn't do anything to discourage her. _Get_ his ass Ellie.

Dmitri sneered at this. "Yes. Then we got more prisoners back after rocketship dropped into our maximum security jails." He turned to Henry. "I would say thanks, but you caused us many new problems now, да? With the clan trying so hard to get them back, I had to send many to new prisons far away."

"Which we're here now to fix." Ellie pointed out. "It's kinda what you asked us to do.. so you better not try anything funny."

"Yes, yes, don't worry. Your general has talked to me very much about it." He gestured for them to take their seats. "Any questions, before we begin?"

Ellie raised her hand. Dmitri rolled his eyes. "конечно [of course], the mouthy one. What is it."

She took a step closer, smirk now not at all hidden. "How'd the stop sign taste? Good?"

Henry willed himself not to snicker _too_ hard at Dmitri's scowl, and walked forward to sit in front of the desk with Ellie. Dmitri returned to his seat last, then pressed some sort of button. After a buzz, a different door within the office opened, revealing Grigori. He appeared to be holding a hefty stack of papers, bringing them over to the desk.

"Here are all our toppat files. Orange meaning they were sent to different prison, blue is they're still here. I stored their whereabouts in different hard drive." Dmitri began, taking out another paper from one of his cabinets.  
"And this, is our map showing where all the toppats in the Wall are right now. Tell me your plan, and I can move them wherever."

Henry glanced at Ellie. For reasons Henry will not be having the time to unravel here, he did NOT want to talk around Dmitri. Ellie seemed to understand, and took stead.

"We usually wing these sort of things, but how about this--scatter all the toppats as much as you can. The more central in the complex we go, the higher their status in the clan should be."

Dmitri scribbled onto the maps with a pen. "Where should I put my guards?"

Ellie tapped a querying finger on Henry's wrist; this question could be answered silently. Henry surveyed the map for a minute, pointing towards the exits he remembered escaping out of from his alternate choices. The top roof, front yards, and docks.

"Okay. And you will arrest toppat leaders in.." There was only one spot left wide open. "..cafeteria?"

"No, but we're going to first guard the cafeteria because of its large window opening. We can hide there, in case they decide to crash it."

"You know they will break through there?"

"Nope."

"Vat."

"The General told us they kept trying to break in with a bang, right?"

"да.." Dmitri looked skeptical. "They never did sneaking. Always with the guns or crashing gates."

"Well, that's probably one pattern we can rely on. The cafeteria window is in the middle of all your floors. It's the best place to spread evenly and try to search for members."

"But how will they reach it?"

"I dunno." Ellie shrugged. "They don't have their airship anymore, but I wouldn't be surprised if they find a way. Either way, you've got the top heavily guarded, and if they attack from anywhere else, we'll go to meet em."

"Hmph." Dmitri looked more displeased at Ellie's rationale than appreciative, but he conceded. "Fine. I will order everyone to their places. Grigori?"  
The man looked almost half-asleep until Dmitri jolted him awake.

"Guard the main entrances to the yard." Grigori nodded, taking his leave.

"Would that be all then?" Ellie crossed her arms.

Dmitri put away the map. "That will be all."

Ellie and Henry could not have stood up any _quicker_ , but right before reaching the door, Dmitri stopped them with a clearing of his throat. He tossed them some walkie talkies. "After this is all over.. we can agree to never see each other again, да?"

"The next time we ever see each other again would be too soon." Ellie opted to say, the two finally making their way outside. Once fully out the hall, they sighed.  
"Well, that wasn't fun."

"Would've been less tense without all your remarks." Henry pointed out.

"Oh come on, you loved them."

"I did."

The soldiers accompanying them followed closely, all the way up till they reached the cafeteria. One of them finally piped up, "Toppat ETA is about an hour."

Ellie checked her phone anyway. "We'll first wait here as planned. You guys can cover our backs by guarding the halls."

The soldiers saluted, promptly leaving to patrol. Henry led Ellie to a corner pillar, hiding behind it.

"Here's to hoping we can get this over with soon." Ellie sighed, sitting down. "I don't like stakeouts as much." Henry nodded, joining her. He checked up on Charles.

"We're done with the meeting now. How's it going in the sky?"

It never took more than a couple seconds for Charles to respond to a direct mic message. "Still no sign of them! What's your location?"

"We're in the cafeteria."

"Gotcha. I _would_ fly down to the cafeteria level to say hi, but uh, I don't think the General would be very happy if I left formation right now."

Henry huffed a silent laugh. "Stay where you are and stay safe. It'll all be over before you know it."

"I should be the one telling you all to stay safe! I'm up in the air, no worries."

Henry's worrywart could definitely argue against that, but he instead exchanged a few more pleasantries before muting himself and settling in.  
  
They waited in silence for only five more minutes until Ellie broke. "RPS?"

"RPS."

  
  
\---  
  
  


"How's it looking Wallace?" Copperbottom called into his communicator. Pemberton was their only Wall liaison, and a rather dormant one at that. He was considering pulling Wallace out of his undercover position a few times before, but he was glad he didn't now.

"There's a bunch of guards going up top! I don't know where the Triple Threat are, but I'll let you know if I hear about it."

"Hrm.. any easy openings?"

"According to Grigori's orders, the only one with not as much guards would be the very bottom.. at the pier?"

"Okay, keep your positions as usual. On my say so, start releasing all the cells. From there on out, you're no longer need to keep undercover, so just join us at the docks."

"Understood chief!"

"And do keep your voice down!" Reginald turned it off, turning to RHM.  
The clan was already a few miles off from the Wall, everyone getting there by what cars or jeeps they could hijack. Some were left on base for communications, but other than that, pretty much all the current toppats were present.

"It looks like we'll have to break in through the base."

RHM nodded, relaying orders unto Burt to let everybody know. It would take a little longer for them to reach the road to the shores and circle back to the pier, likely on a stolen ship or something, but that didn't deter Reginald's excited humming.

"You're awful chipper today." RHM noted, giving Reginald a soft hip check as the both of them stood on the back of their truck, overlooking the caravan trailing behind.

"But of course! Not only will we finally be able to get our most prominent members back, but this is our chance to get revenge for all the havoc Henry caused us."

RHM stroked his stache, amused. "Right, but make sure to keep your head on ey? We'll get the clan's vengeance soon enough."

"I always keep my head on!" Reginald crossed his arms.

"Sure Reg."

"I do!"

  
  
\---

  
  
"..best out of 58?" Henry tried. Ellie was thoroughly put out.

"How are you _this_ bad at RPS? Thought you had the lucky gift of chance or something."

"Yes, HAD being a key word there." Ellie gave up.

"What's taking them so long? I figured they'd be here in thirty minutes or so."

Henry didn't get a chance to offer any consoling words (either for the agonizing wait, or his apparently terrible RPS skills), as the both of them froze upon hearing signs of a struggle outside the cafeteria doors.

They quickly shuffled to better hide themselves from that entrance's angle, and readied their handguns.

"Really? Of all times, _now_ they finally try to sneak in?" Ellie grimaced, peering out from the sides. Henry shrugged, reaching for his mic.

"Charles?"

"Hey Hen!"

"We think there's some kind of fighting going on in the hallways. It's possible they launched a sneak attack for once."

"Oh, huh. Copy that, I'll let everyone know. And guys--only fight if you need to, or if you see the leaders on sight, okay?"

"Love you." Charles' flustered sputtering was cut off as Henry smugly muted his mic again. Ellie rolled her eyes in a poorly concealed grin.

"You're mean."

Just then, the cafeteria doors crashed open, one of their own soldiers flying through it and crashing into some tables.

"What in the-" Ellie leapt out, gun ready to fire at the doors. Peculiarly, nobody else came in, and Ellie motioned Henry to follow her lead and check the halls. It was all a little singed, bizarrely.. maybe some sort of bomb went off? And the walls were a bit battered, but that's about it. Their walkie-talkies finally buzzed.

"Dmitri, have they actually tried sneaking in?" Ellie answered first.

Dmitri had been waiting at the top with all the other guards, but now it sounded he was out of breath, running.

"Ferry."

"Huh?"

"They infiltrated from bottom up. At docks."

"Seriously?" Ellie sighed. "Okay, we'll make our way down. Be warned, we're pretty sure a few have already passed up the cafeteria."

Dmitri didn't answer, turning his end off.

Ellie rolled her eyes and pocketed the device. "There's that. Stairs or elevator?"

"..No one would take the elevator, right?"

"Probably. Ok, stairs it is. Should we take the ones outdoors or indoors?"

Henry tapped his chin, then called Charles again.

"What's goin on guys? I'm starting to see altercations below me, down at the docks?"

"Yea, they apparently decided to invade from there."

"Hm, kinda weird but aight. What do you need?"

"Are the outside stairs busy?"

"Uuhh.. I see maybe five guys on the fire escape total? But ah, those stairs only go up to the roof. They don't go further below the cafeteria."

"What about on the other side of the building?"

"Oh, I'll check." A pause. "Umm.. yeah! Yeah, there's a set of stairs going from the cafeteria all the way down."

"We'll be there soon."

Henry went out the door to the other outer staircase, Ellie close behind. He spotted Charles' helicopter up above, distant, but near enough to amp up the winds a bit. Never knew being underneath a big, loud metal machine would be as comforting as it was, though Henry guessed he shouldn't have found that revelation so interesting.

As they hurried their way down, Ellie tried peering down over. A couple skirmishes were ongoing, but for the most part, it seemed like the toppats were rather keeping them busy than gaining any actual ground in the fight.

"I can't see the leaders anywhere.. where _are_ they?"

  
  
\---

  
  
RHM and Reginald, along with a group of other toppats, cruised along to some elevator music peacefully.

Reginald languidly contacted one of his men back at the boat. "Ah yes, Icepick. How's it holding with the diversion outside?"

"We're keeping it stable sir! Our other group is already searching one of the cell floors. We've so far located Sherman, Jack, Sledge, and Hanz. Still need a couple more.. will Wallace release em all soon?"

"Soon. Keep me updated on any-"

"Oop- uh, sir? I've got an update."

"Well that was fast. What is it?"

"We see two of the triple threats coming here. They--oh boy, they're mowing down our frontline men at the stairs sir!"

"..Two? What do you mean?" Reginald shook his head. "Oh never mind. We'll find our target eventually. Do you need us down there now?"

"Uhh- maybe? Whoa!" Reginald was fairly sure that was the sound of a bullet dodged. "Yes, that would be appreciated."

Reginald sighed. "Alright then, we'll be on our way once we deal with-"

The elevator doors opened, prompting an awkward silence as they stared at Dmitri and his men.

"...Call you back?"

  
  
\---  
  


  
Henry and Ellie finally made it all the way down, panting from all the stairs. "Next time, we should really, I dunno, use a sled or something." Ellie wiped her brow.

"Over here!" Some Wall employee called them over to their barricades. Ellie and Henry rounded the corner, making sure to return some bullets fired around them. The man who waved them down, rarely enough, didn't have a Russian accent.  
"You've got to help me, please. I didn't sign up for this.. I have a wife and baby!" Henry eyed the guy's nametag--Smith?--then looked at Ellie. She offered exactly two pats to the guy's shoulder, hilariously awkward in soothing the stranger.

"Uhm, don't worry- that's why we're here.. Henry, what do you wanna try first?"

Henry rummaged through his bag, digging through all sorts of weapons and random contraptions he managed to nab from the armory, until he finally found what he was looking for.

"Is that.. a force gun? Huh. Didn't know we even had that."

Henry smirked, poking it over the crates. There were roughly twenty toppats firmly keeping their line.  
Not for long.

Within a few fires, most of them were now submerged in the icy waters, and the Wall troops ceased fire. Ellie finished off the rest, then went over to speak with some of the employees as Henry updated Charles.

"Whoa, did ya use the force gun? Awesome! I knew it'd come in handy again!" Henry smiled.

"The docks are under control again. Any prison break yet?"

"Nope, not yet. I'll let you know when it happens though!"

Henry let go of his mic with a "thanks", going back up to Ellie.

"Hey Henry? Got some bad news. These guys are saying how Dmitri told them he found the toppat leaders in the upper floors. They haven't gotten any answer back since, sooo I'm pretty sure he'd dead or something now."

Henry huffed, looking back to the stairs.

"Yeah, I know. Ugh, we just got here."

An idea came to Henry, but he _really_ didn't like it. "..We need to go back up. But this time, maybe we should split up?"

Ellie rose her brow. "Been a while since you last said that."

"I know. But we'll have a better shot at pinning their leader down if we spread out."

"True. We should make this quick before they try to open up all the cells. So, we'll go back up the stairs, but I'll keep going up to try and look for the leaders. You gonna patrol around the cafeteria?" Henry nodded. "Let's move then."

With another quick update to Charles, the two trekked the stairways yet again.

Don't skip leg day folks.

  
  
\---

  
  
"You alright Regi?" RHM succeeded in protecting the chief, but still checked him over. He got grazed a few times, though they were all quickly bandaged up.

"Quite alright, thanks to you." Reginald smoothed out his suit, putting away his revolver. "Now that they've been taken care of, I think it's time to-"

"Chief!"

Reginald picked up his communicator. "Icepick?"

"We've been p-pushed off the pier by Henry and Ellie! D-don't know how but, w-we-we're kinda freezing now??"

"I'll send my men over right away." Reginald motioned over everyone but RHM. "Go down and recover everyone there back to the ferry. I'll send a few of our other search groups as well. Me and my Right Hand Man will continue to free our members after I give Wallace the word. And keep in mind, if you see our target-- _get_ him."

They all nodded, immediately running downstairs. It was a long ways down, but after their run in at the elevator, none of them bothered to take their chances.

"Oh, those thieves really are annoying aren't they." Reginald pinched his temples. RHM led him on. "How much further now?"

"Just a couple more floors to the top, and we'll be at the heart of the prison holds. We've just got to cover the grounds the others haven't yet." They ran off, able to locate and free a few members along the way.

Once all of the toppats left the vicinity, a crumpled over body sat up.

"Ohh..." Dmitri held his head. "The orange mustache packs a punch.." He slowly stood up, looking over his fallen comrades. His own right hand man was still several floors above, ready for interception.  
He held up his walkie talkie, somehow unbroken from their clash. "You two."

"What is it?" Ellie heaved as she skipped the stairs two by two.

"Toppat leaders have gone up higher, and there are some going back down to pier."

"Great." Ellie groaned, picking up the pace. "I'll try and get them."

"Okay. I will be back in office for first aid, then order half my guards to stay in upper floors, other half to go down."

Ellie merely grunted and turned it off, ignoring her muscles burning. "My thighs are going to be _thicc_ after all this."

  
  
\---

  
  
Out of all the toppats Reginald sent back downwards, Floyd was the one who halted everyone when they reached the middle levels. "Hold it- there he is!" They stopped, crouching around the corner. A blurred person sprinted past.

"That's our target! Cover me while I try to get at him." The others nodded, loading up their guns.  
The sound must've alerted Henry, because as soon as they all jumped out, he dove back behind some large crates. They sure had a lot of those lying around huh?  
  
The air soon filled up with shots as the two sides stood off. Henry made do with the first gun he could snatch out of his bag, while Floyd slipped by into a nearby door. Going through the offices, he quietly opened the exit door and tip-toed up behind Henry, who was busy firing back.

Floyd swung his gun, but missed as Henry dodged. "The heck?" What, did the guy have a spidey sense or something??  
  
The two tussled for a bit, but before Henry could shoot him in turn, the others hurriedly rushed him from behind. Busting through all the crates, they managed to immobilize him through what was virtually a scrambling heap of a dogpile. One of the somewhat stronger toppats, Chipz, was just barely able to dump him into a sack and tie it up.

They all cheered, most of all Floyd, likely because this was going to earn him a promotion. "We got 'im! Still fighting though." The bag was ruffling furiously, trying to punch at anything close.

"Just hold the bag at a distance."

"But he's heavy!"

It took some shuffling, but most of them eventually helped in carrying the bag up top, while the rest covered their front and back.  
The group only traveled a couple floors below the cafeteria halls where they captured Stickmin, when the alarm suddenly went off.

"Ohh boy."

Not too far off above them, was the cause for said alarms.

"NOW!" Reginald ordered at his communicator, getting ready to filter through all the escaped prisoners with RHM. Wallace pushed the button, startling some employees nearby, and all the cells opened at once.

"We.." One of the guards--Horace--muttered, watching Wallace scamper on out the hallway. "We really should get rid of that button."

Waves of inmates soon flooded the outside and interior corridors, and every toppat Reginald strategically placed around the Wall flagged down other fellow members (possibly even recruiting a few inmates simultaneously).  
This mayhem went on for a few minutes, the crowd thinning out quickly inside.  
  
"Have we got everyone yet?" Reginald called to Burt, who was receiving all sorts of messages from various members. It was a marginally more difficult job since his team had been largely reduced, but he managed.

"Uhh, just about. Now we're only missing Ahnoldt who--oh wait, no, I hear him yelling somewhere. Yep, he's broken free."

"So everybody is accounted for?"

"According to our stationed toppats, yeah, pretty much."

"Perfect! Now, time to capture our target.."

"Oh, uh.. I think Floyd actually just sent me the code for capture. He.. hm... yea, he says he's got him."

Reginald blinked. "Really? Wow. Okay, then start calling everybody back!" He ended the call, running behind RHM to the stairways outside. "Things are going a lot better than I expected."

RHM hummed, throwing a few employees over the stairs as they charged on through. "Well, ya did call it the perfect plan. Now let's hurry before any more reinforcements can get to the pier and outgun us again."

  
  
\---

  
  
You had _got_ to be kidding Henry.

Thankfully, he wasn't knocked out like _all the other times he got kidnapped_ , so at least there was that. He'd been able to spot a shadow coming up from behind him at the last second, avoiding lost consciousness at the butt end of a gun. But _still_. Of all things, a dogpile is what got him.

..Maybe he should pair with Ellie and Charles to the gym more often after all..

After struggling fruitlessly for a bit, he gave it up with the wrestling and quickly called Ellie. The alarms were going on full blast outside now, which ticked him, but he was able to use it to cover up his loud whispers.

"Ellie?"

"Henry!" Ellie's voice hollered over all the ruckus in the background. "Where are you? We should reconvene."  
She was just about ready to throw in the towel for finding Copperbottom and his Right Hand Man. She actually spotted them across the vast stockades a few times, but they appeared to have spotted her as well, strangely avoiding conflict with her. They slipped into a crowd, and she hasn't seen them since.

"Sorry. Sort of got kidnapped?"

Excuse her. " _WHAT?!"_  
Henry winced. His poor ears. "I'm in some kind of bag right now. Around six or seven toppats got to me, but I can hear everything they're saying. They've got all their members out the cells, and now are making their way back down to the pier."

"That is _fucking it_." Ellie's side of things suddenly quieted down a bit. "I'm taking the goddamn elevator. Henry, I'm on my way okay? Hold tight."

Henry hummed an affirmative, heeding and holding tight. Not much else he could do anyway. His limbs may not be bound, but his gun fell out when they got him, and his bag was being firmly held in place by a pair of hands outside somewhere. He'd probably have to dislocate a shoulder in order to try and reach for a weapon in his bag, and really, he didn't feel like doing that. Not just yet anyway.

He also tried calling up Charles, but to his utter dismay, he didn't dutifully answer within the first five seconds. Henry was in a pretty precarious position right now, so he did his best not to stress so much over it. After all, they couldn't possibly get to him so high up in the air. He's probably just busy.

_Unless they have a rocket launcher._

Henry stuffed that thought down to the deep ass cracks of Satan and, for now, ignored his thoughts trying to fill in the blanks on why Charles wasn't answering. He instead strained to hear best he could what all the toppats around him were saying. He got a few random spare words and shouts, but then, he heard something else slowly starting to drown their words out.. somehow moreso than all the alarms.  
  
The jostling toppats below him stopped running all of a sudden and.. and...

...was that the sound of helicopter blades. It wasn't the sound of helicopter blades. It couldn't have been the sound of helicopter blades and shit, it _fucking was-_

  
  
\---  
  


  
Say, remember all that stuff Charles went on about when confessing to Henry, not too long ago? Fire and shit?

Yeah. Yeah.. Charles was on fire now. Not the same kind of comfortable fire Henry seemed to exude to him. This was just plain, normal ass fire. The kind that burned.

The steering stick creaked under Charles' hand as he lowered the helicopter down some.

Finally--fucking finally--it clicked. The goddamn puzzle pieces clicked, and it wasn't at all what he was thinking.  
This was pretty much the worst time for Charles to even attempt in sorting through his thoughts right now, but any and all rationale turned into deafening static, so what the hell.  
  
When he heard Ellie report to him that Henry Stickmin, escapist legend, fellow co-op agent, his _boyfriend,_ just got kidnapped by a group of toppats, it was as if some switch got flicked and set ablaze his entire insides. Every single nerve end had their own personal mini flame bent on vengeance, and he could only mutter back a quick "Sorry" to Ellie before he let his mind go autopilot on flying.

"What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Charles?? Charles-!!!" He turned off his mic, and flew forward at full speed. The cafeteria was already well in view. Right in front of him. 30, 20, 10 feet away.

And Charles, he... was afraid. For once, really, afraid.  
  
Of course he was afraid for Henry. For Ellie. _Immensely_. That's not what shocked him. He's mourned before, had his heart clench for others before, but this was a bit different.  
  
Because holy shit, he was afraid for _himself._

At this, Charles almost wanted to laugh a little. And it wasn't just because the very moment he's finally able to do the one thing he's been wanting to pull for.. years at this point, he doesn't want it anymore. Though, that definitely added unto the disbelief.  
He knew he had to first learn to "keep" himself, before being able to keep and love others fully, and this still was the case. It just.. happened differently than expected.

He always thought he'd first need to click in with a person perfectly before finally breaking out of his stagnant attitude and actually give enough of a fuck to want to give a _proper_ fuck over staying. But turns out, he got it all wrong the entire time.

The "click" was nonexistent. Henry _was_ the motherfucking click to begin with.  
  
Charles was only right about one thing really.  
That fear out of losing something precious, did him in. It truly did.  
He's faced death face to face a few handful of times before, and fear _did_ touch him. Of course it did; it's a little engrained in biology. But this altogether new level of fear, did the incomprehensible and made him, at long last, genuinely fear losing himself.

He didn't _want_ to die, never did, but he was finally shaken enough to go from want to _can't._ He couldn't, simply put, couldn't. Not now.  
Because Henry needed him, and damn him if that didn't make him _not_ want to crash his helicopter into a building for the rest of time itself.

Speaking of.

He was about to crash his helicopter into a building.

  
  
\---

  
  
When their loot stopped struggling so much in the bag, the toppats handling him were content to chatter on as they all made their way downstairs.

"Hey, how much more of this is there?" Floyd heaved. "Can't take it any longer."

"Least you ain't carrying the load.." One of his closer pals, Derbert, muttered.

He shrugged. "I'll check up with the chief and see how much longer we've got. If we don't have a lot of time, let's just try taking the elevator again."

Floyd called. Burt connected him soon.

"Hey chief?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"How much longer till the ferry takes off?"

"I'd say ten minutes."

Floyd relayed the message to everyone, eliciting groans.

Reginald heard, and sighed. "I know, but we better make it snappy. After all, we've got all that we came for right?"

"Yep. Burt just announced that all the members at the Wall have been recovered, and we've got Henry!"

"Exa--" Silence.  
  
Floyd cocked his head, knocking his mic a bit. Did he get cut off or something?

"Uh, chief? You still there?"

Reginald, who made RHM look back curiously upon his sudden pause on the stairs, could not _believe_ his fucking ears.  
He willed himself to not yell, knowing that it wouldn't last ten seconds.

"Pardon?"

"Hm? Oh, we just said that Burt told everyone how all the Wall toppats have been released!"

"And?"

"And.. and that we've got Henry?"

RHM was starting to get a little alarmed with how Reginald started to grip the banister, knuckles paling.

"..you buffoons."

"Huh?"

"Utter _IDIOTS-"_ Reginald leaned heavily against RHM, rather dramatically RHM would add, but he wasn't about to commentate on that now. "You-! You thought our target was _Henry?!_ " 

An audible gulp. "Y..yes? I mean, in the meeting you had a whole speech on how we were all going to make him pay so-"

"I." Reginald wished he could reach through the mics and yank their ears out that way. "I _also_ said, that the best way to get revenge, would be to get at someone he loves. You absolute fools you-"

"B-but, I mean, isn't this okay? We can use him as a bargaining chip still, right??"

"During the meeting. I stated. That the army's veteran pilot. Warrant officer. _Specially_ _commissioned._ Would be a better bargaining chip than a talented thief their general pardoned. Wouldn't. You. Agree?"

"Ohhh... yea. Yea that makes sense."

He _almost_ ripped his moustache out, but RHM grabbed his wrist before he could do anything regretful.

"Did NONE of you listen to the meeting at all?!" He shrieked.

Floyd looked over to everyone, who all knew exactly what they were doing during the meeting. Or rather, playing.  
As soon as the words "Between Us 2" entered Reginald's ears, he thrust his other wrist at RHM to hold so that he didn't crush the mic right then and there.

"This, is unacceptable! I will look to it personally that you all receive cer-woah!" RHM abruptly yanked Reginald in, crouching over him as the entire building violently shook.  
Large debri and chunks of concrete fell past around them, though only sprinkles of glass sprayed onto RHM.  
  
After the both of them recovered, they sped down the rest of the stairs as the building restabilized.

"What, was THAT?" Reginald cried, nearly flying with the way RHM pulled him across the pier.

"I saw a large shadow pass over. It was the helicopter, ramming into the Wall."

"Really? What kind of a crazy pilot does that?"

RHM, having calmed better now that Reginald had boarded their ferry safely, straightened up as he looked on the smoking aircraft, half sticking out of the building. Several floors have been demolished in the process.

"I've got a feeling." He leaned over the rails of the boat and turned to Reginald again. "That it's the same one we're after."

  
  
\---  
  


  
Charles had barely jumped out the second the helicopter head crashed through the wide windows.  
He still took quite a fall though, as the cafeteria floors had collapsed on impact. Tucked and rolling, he felt many a ripe bruise bloom across his joints, tumbling on and on until he finally felt himself come to a full stop.

Slowly, he cracked open an eye. Everything was sore, hazy, and he was _pretty_ sure he broke an arm? Maybe.

Charles grit his teeth as he tried to move it, a couple lights flashing before him that weren't the overhanging strobes, all disconnected and flickering.  
Yep, definitely broken. Lovely.

Well, arm or no, it was time to find Henry.

He coughed a couple times before being able to try and get up. "Come on.." He collapsed over a few times, only managing to get on his knees. "Oof, yeah. This isn't working." He must've fell by a _lot._ You'd think the Wall's structure would be a bit more sound.

His headset was still somewhat intact, though the mic had been snapped off. Whatever.

"Henry.. Ellie... anyone copy?" He waited a moment, blinking away all the ash and dust swirling in the air. The frigid winds and snow outside kept swirling in, so it took a while.

"..-arles?!"

That's a surprise. It actually still worked? "Yes Ellie?"

"YOU-" He almost cracked a grin at the convenient censorship, thick static interrupting a lot of the cuss words. Not that it'd be enough, of course. "-piece of shit! You had me so fucking worried, what the fuck!"

"Sorry." He wheezed another apology. At that, Ellie bit back any more enraged curses.

"Charles, you better be okay right now."

"I'm all good! Still got my head, arms, two legs.."

"..can you stand."

"..."

"Fuck."

"Ellie, wh-" He gasped, jolting. Oh wow, _and_ a cracked rib? Faaantastic.  
"Ngh, phew.. where's Henry?"

"I don't know... I don't know, I-I don't-" Ellie cut herself off, voice starting to wobble. Charles almost instinctively tried to hop onto his feet, but his legs remained stone heavy, folded beneath him.

"Ellie. Ellie, nonono it's okay. It's alright." He heard her take a shuddery breath. "Breathe, please?"

"You assholes.." She was getting overwhelmed. When Ellie said these boys would be the death of her, she didn't mean it _literally_. She'd be lucky to avoid heart attack by her mid-thirties at this rate, the both of them apparently having a penchant for being damsels in distress. If anyone was a very distressed damsel right now though, it was _her._  
  
"I couldn't reach either of you after that crash and-" Charles grimaced. Making Ellie genuinely upset always felt like a sucker punch on steroids.  
She sniffed, recomposing herself with a drawn out sigh. "-and... and you broke your promise too." Her attempt in lightening the mood didn't go unappreciated. "How dare you."

"I'm sorry." Charles repeated, smiling weakly. "I really am. I'll receive whatever penalty you want later. But, I can't just let them-" Something moved out the corner of his eye, and he whipped towards the blur. He turned his head too quickly though, and everything swam dizzily, temples suddenly throbbing. He didn't think it was a concussion (at least he hoped it wasn't), just a really crappy headache.

"Charles?"

"F-find Henry, okay?" The sudden bouts of vertigo made his thoughts as scrambled as his brain felt, but that was the main mental mantra prevailing midst all the fog. "Find him."

"I will. And you?"

"I uh, I crashed into the cafeteria, and the floors aren't super strong. Think a couple levels partially collapsed."

"Yeah.. yeah okay." Ellie began to run. "Upper floors are still stable. I'm maybe, five floors above? I'll call you if I find Henry first. Don't move."

"Funny."

Charles sighed, hand leaving his headset. Slowly, he tried again to stand up. He was in.. an office? Cell? Impossible to tell. Either way, there was a big chunk of concrete closeby that he could use to lean against.

Heavily pulling with just one arm, he was only able to get into a sort of squat against the wall, before somebody else kicked him down again, landing him on his stomach.

"Ack! What the-" Charles blearily looked up. Was that a Wall uniform hat, or a top hat.. _wow_ his vision was messed up. Why? Did he get smacked across the eyeballs somehow or something?? He was no doctor, so all he had were half pint guesses.

Thankfully, it wasn't so messed up to the point that he couldn't see a rustling burlap sack off into the distance. A familiar head poked out of it, and he blinked rapidly.

"Hen.." He whispered, beyond relief. "Thank goodness."  
  
Welp. That was that. Henry seemed intact, seeing as how a few squashed toppats beneath him apparently took the brunt of the fall. There was no large debri on top of him. And, his vision cleared enough to let him know that the other two toppats now encircling him, seemed to be ignoring Henry. So that was good.

Somewhat satisfied, he allowed himself to close his eyes, and almost instantly drifted away.

  
  
\---

  
  
RHM took count of everyone at the ferry while Reginald tried contacting the group he previously was calling, but to no avail.

"Sorry sir." Burt said. "I think their mics are broken at this point."

"Dammit." Reginald harshly sighed. "We only have a few minutes left before more reinforcements come. We can hold off for now, but once they all come down, we've got to leave." At first, he was trying to convince himself that their plans could still work just fine, even with Henry as the main trade. By now, he was just hoping for anything.

They were able to find all their members out of the Wall rather fast, but only because so many others had been sent away elsewhere. At this point, they've gotten nearly half their numbers back, which was good, but they still needed much more to be able to turn the tide against the government's efforts.  
  
Without all their dispersed members' files, it would take _much_ longer for the Toppat Clan to rise up back to what it once was.

"Two minutes Reg." RHM returned from his check. "Then we've got to go."

"I know." Reginald sagged. "I just wi-- wait. Is that.." He squinted off to the distance, coming up around the Wall and their guards. "Good god, is that them?"

Floyd and Derbert survived the crash, and they had a full haul behind them too.

"Hurry!" Reginald provided supporting fire as other toppats helped to pull them in. Soon as RHM gave the ok sign, Reginald shouted for their driver to start the full ferry up. Almost skidding across the waters despite all their weight, they sped off into the horizon, leaving behind a too late troop of Wall reinforcements.  
  
Reginald took a full minute to calm down, taking in that their mission was finally complete... and then stomped right over to Floyd.

"Why I oughta-"

"Sorry boss!" Reginald ignored the apology and gripped Floyd's arms, shaking him about ridiculously.  
RHM coughed.  
"Ah yes, of course." He backed away, letting RHM _lift_ Floyd to really shake him about; a whole flopping ragdoll. After a few seconds of this, Reginald told him to stop.  
  
"Chief! H-hold on, listen!"

Reginald crossed his arms. "I'm listening."

"Uhp, after the helicopter crash, all our mics broke- which is why we couldn't contact you. We lost everyone but me and Derbert over here, and whe-"

"Are you only going to relay old bad news to me, or are you going to give me something useful?" Reginald snapped.

"We got the pilot!"

Reginald blinked. Very slowly.  
He looked over to the bag, of which he first assumed contained Stickmin when he saw them dragging it behind them.

"You.. what?"

"We found him around the area we all fell into. We would've taken both him and Henry, but we only had one bag and we couldn't have carried both. So I suggested we get him instead since.. well." He sheepishly shrugged. "That was the plan."

"It was." Reginald dared not smile till he actually looked inside the bag himself. "It was." Now he was smiling.  
And it wouldn't leave till the end of their ride back to shore, then onwards to base sweet base.  
  
  
"...but don't you think you're getting off the hook just yet!"

  
  
\---

  
  
"Henry?" Ellie called out. The Wall's architecture was mostly still sound all throughout. It was just the hole the helicopter punched into that really made the place look a mess. Ellie had to slide down a couple sloping tiles before finally reaching the bottom of all the destruction. "Henry!" She searched and searched, even tried using her mic, but got nothing.

Everything was quiet now, all the commotion from below now having hushed to distant mumblings and occasional yelling. Despite the generally destroyed floors Ellie was traversing being in total shambles, it almost seemed peaceful.

She then stumbled over something lumpy, soft. Looking down, she was nonplussed to find it was one of the toppats. "Huh." There were a couple here. And if they were here.. that meant Henry had to be nearby, right? She redoubled her efforts, shouting louder.

"HENRY! I swear to everything holy, you-" She halted, her jaw snapping shut. Cupping her ear, Ellie did her best to tune in on that muffling she picked up on. Determining where it was coming from, she marched on to the source. "I'm here. Come on, where.."

She gasped, finally spotting where Henry was stowed away at. Sprinting over, she kicked down an ajar door and found him tied up to some table. It was, in all honesty, a very poorly done job. One that Henry would've normally been able to tear out of with some effort, maybe a nearby shard or something.

"Henry, hey." Ellie snapped her fingers a few times, getting Henry to open his eyes. They were.. well, besides being red and suspiciously wet, they were _furiously_ pissed off.  
It startled her, but she knew it wasn't at her so she crouched down and shuffled closer. When he made no move whatsoever, she quickly untied him and tugged him up to stand. "Anything broken?"

Henry shook his head.

"Seriously?" He would've been fairly close beneath the cafeteria at the time of the crash. Maybe he had _some_ luck after all.

He nodded.

"Okay.." Ellie became wary; he wasn't speaking.  
Around the Triple Threat's third month of missions, Henry's mouth had warmed up immensely and he talked a normal amount around them, fully comfortable. With her or Charles, he only returned to the mute treatment if he was really mad with them over something, OR if he was _deeply_ upset about something else.

Ellie hugged Henry, knowing he needed it. He had his arms tightly crossed, but she didn't care. Ellie counted a hundred seconds before Henry finally cracked and shoved his face into her shoulder.

"They.." Henry pulled away, finally getting his throat to work. "I couldn't- don't know wh--"

"Hey, hey, it's cool. Whatever happened, you don't have to say. Let's just find Charles and get out of here. Who cares if the mission was a bust?"

At Charles' mention, he robotically sat down again, pulling Ellie down with him.

"..what." Ellie's heart started to beat harder, fingers automatically going to her mic. "Charles. Charles, do you copy?"  
She already knew what happened. Henry got captured, and now here he was. And Charles wasn't. That stupid sacrificial bastard. "Charles. Answer me Ch-"

Henry grabbed Ellie's wrist tightly, tensing more and more at each call. She stopped and held onto Henry's shoulders, doing her best to get him to stop clenching them.

"Henry, you have to tell me what happened. Please." Henry slowly nodded, but didn't reply until his eyes dried, leaving behind nothing but pure, acrid anger.

He looked at her with those eyes, three words communicated. _"They took him."  
_ There were actually a lot of words being communicated through Henry's stare alone. _"They took Charles, they're going to regret being born, I'll MAKE them regret being born.." ,_ etc. But she got the message from the start.

Ellie closed her eyes, and switched her mic to the General's channel.

"Rose? What's your status report."

"Codeword fail." A pause. "Mission fail."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually a whole dumpster fire  
> For as long as it took, I feel preeetty shitty about this chapter lmao  
> End meee


	12. not too far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of a slower chapter ngl  
> i won't have much time to write on this for the next week, but i'm sure we'll get to the delicious angst soon enough ;)))

"General wants us to put him on video call now." Ellie just got back from reporting their side of things to Galeforce in another room of the office. Dmitri already finished his beforehand, immediately jumping on ordering reconstruction of the Wall.  
  
Henry gratefully squeezed her arm when she returned (there was no way he'd be able to objectively report the mission right now) and the both of them raggedly slid further back into their chairs as Dmitri grumbled, setting up his computer.  
As always, Grigori stood off dutifully to his side, not looking too worse for wear. Since he mainly took charge of the guards in the upper sections, he only dealt with a few skirmishes here and there. The brunt of it came during the prison break. Dmitri had stayed put in his office to tend to his own injuries after his run in with the Toppat leaders, only coming out to help apprehend escaped convicts soon after they were released.

Henry and Ellie were surprised to find themselves with the least amount of injuries for once. Put together, they attained multiple scrapes and bruises, nothing a good first aid kit couldn't handle.  
But considering the outcome of the mission, they almost wished they had gotten more hurt. As if to make up for it.  
  
Overall, nobody was pleased at the speedy reunion.

Too many unsaid things crammed the room till the air grew tenser than a stick of butter, though out of all of them, Henry likely minded it the least.  
Aside from not wanting to talk yet--least not while Dmitri or his right hand were there--he simply let himself sink into the slippery black oil of his brain, and stay there.

Henry was pretty used to falling and crashing spectacularly into the ground, so with at least four other toppats beneath him at the time of the collision, he had emerged disorientated, but not too terribly hurt. The bag unraveled during the tumble, and once free he had to wait a minute to blink away all the dust in his eyes.

When he spotted Charles, on the ground, _unresponsive_ , with two other toppats overhead he...

To put it lightly, he went livid. He didn't think, didn't grab a gun, nothing. Just charged like a madman and punched the ever living fuck out one of them. This of course, accomplished nothing, because in all his unfocused rage the other toppat rammed into his side, grappling with him. Once down, they managed to hold him still, and after they murmured to each other for a bit, one of them drew a pistol unto Charles' head and _that_ was what finally snapped him out of his red daze.

"Oi, hear me now?" He sure fucking did. "Calm down, geez. We're gonna have to tie ya up now- any sudden movements and I'll shoot, aright?"

He should've just shot him down and dealt with the other from the get go. He knew he could've handled one just fine. Or he should've realized that they wouldn't have actually killed Charles and kept fighting or something. He should've, should've, should've- anything but just.. turn into some savage animal and rabidly attack with no rhyme or reason behind it.

Instead, he watched as they carried Charles away, eyes stuck on the gun they made sure to keep on him while in Henry's vision, and he kept fixedly staring at that spot till he couldn't anymore.

Head in hands, he was about to heave his twelfth sigh of the hour, but Ellie beat him to it.  
They briefly caught each other's glance, knowing that they both were probably being overly hard on themselves mentally right now, but unable able to summon enough energy to hypocritically talk the other out of it.  
  
So instead, they continued to wait for Dmitri to start up the call.

Ellie was buried in her own barrels of "what if"s. Though, probably not as bad as Henry really. After all, he was _there_ when they took him away. Plus, the poor fucker had all but a few weekdays of dating before something stupid like this happened. She shook her head.  
  
But that didn't stop her from emotional burnout, unable to keep from thinking over and over how she had _failed.  
_ Yes, they had all technically failed, but this was personal.  
  
She failed priority number one: keep the Triple Threat safe.

Ellie let Henry get captured, let Charles take the fall for it, and dammit she knew that was being too harsh but she didn't know what else to do.  
She _wanted_ to feel the typical scorching fury that'd course through her whenever anybody tried to fuck with them. _W_ _anted_ to let those emotions grip her, dig into her, make her grind her teeth--but she couldn't.

She was spent, so instead, other feelings filled the gap. Predominantly, worry. Fear. All that not-so-nice stuff that didn't take nearly as much effort as anger did.

Before the two could get any deeper into their own heads, Dmitri swung his computer to the the side for everyone could see, and clicked a button. The screen turned into a static green, before blipping up to the General's morose face.

He took in the disgruntled faces of everyone, and contributed a sigh of his own.  
"After going through everyone's reports, I figure I should help encapsulate what just happened. Though first, I will mention that our troops are currently in a stand off at the outskirts of the last Toppat base."

Ellie roughly rubbed her eyes, trying to refocus. "You mean.. they're already there?"

"Unfortunately." The General nodded. "Not much they can do right now though. They know if they try to attack first, we can outman them easily. However, due to the whole hostage situation.." He trailed off, noticing Henry's scornful eyes.  
"Point is, we've got time for making our next plan of action. But before we do, I'm going to say one thing, cause I know from experience that this is what it'll turn to."

He closed his eyes, grim. "None of this is your fault, understood?"

 _Bullshit._ Henry fisted his pants, the thought popping up so suddenly he almost thought he had said it outloud.

"None of us, huh?" Ellie bitterly remarked. Dmitri must've taken it the wrong way though, because that started him.

"Hey, I did my job as the warden. I called you two to capture toppat leaders, and you failed. That is all that happened-"

"Oh fuck _off_." Ellie snapped, all her dormant anger just beneath the surface starting to bubble. "Maybe if you actually ordered your guards to help us more, this all wouldn't have happened. Case you forgot, WE were the ones who dealt with the Toppat intrusion at the docks."

"Yes, and I was the one who had to deal with the leaders. Which is what _you_ all were supposed to do."

"And what a fantastic job you did." She bit.

"Enough." Galeforce firmly resounded, leaving the two to glare at each other. "I've noted a couple problems, yes. But most of all, this was my fault for putting such a large mission on just three individuals. Ellie."

She turned to him, eyes daring. He didn't back down from them.

"Your help in preparing the Wall's defenses were good. You couldn't have possibly predicted that they would sneak in this time, and from the pier too." He looked to Dmitri then. "And she does make a point Dmitri. You should've had all your nearby personnel rush to the attack. Why didn't you?"

"Please." Dmitri waved his hand. "Of course you would take their side. They _are_ your side."

"Now I'm not denying that we made no mistakes. Communications were poor for either side, and while the intent was good, splitting up was indeed a misstep." Henry looked away, crossing his arms.  
If they hadn't split up.. he might've not been captured. Then Charles wouldn't have tried to save him, wouldn't be in toppat hands now, wouldn't--

"Stickmin." Slowly, he tore himself away from spiraling and looked back to the computer. "I understand it was your plan to split, but that has nothing to do with the failure of this mission. It was Charlie's choice to crash into the Wall. Nobody could've known that their target was him."

"How do you know he was their target?" Ellie shifted, still giving Dmitri a stink eye.

"There's no reason for them to switch otherwise. Either way, enough of the self blame. That's an order." Henry massaged his temples. He already knew it would do no good to keep looping through all the millions of "maybe"s in his head, but..

It's just that this entire situation was _too_ similar to Valiant Hero. His goddamn brain could NOT stop drawing parallels, and it made him paranoid. What if this was on some inevitable timeline bullshit, and it's always meant to be that Charles has to die for him? He knew jack shit about quantum physics or whatever, but he saw that happen once or twice in a movie, and--

 _"Rose, Stickmin!"_ The General's voice cut him out of it. Ok, ok, he's seriously got to stop doing that. Ellie had apparently also went into deep thought, and he almost felt bad for not noticing. "I won't be having my top agents hindered from any self doubt. I know you three are very close, but _none_ of this can be pinned on either of you. Now I need you two at your best when we go to rescue him, you hear?"

Rescue. Now that was something the two could focus on. They nodded quickly.

"I don't understand." Dmitri shook his head. "Isn't this 'Charlie' just a pilot? Why all this effort when you can just end clan now?"

Thankfully, the General answered before Henry could do anything _rash_.  
"You will refer to him as Charles, and no. He'd been promoted to be a covert ops agent in the Triple Threat. And even if he weren't, he's still currently one of our most talented pilots. It's in our best interests to retrieve him."

"Our?" A tsk. "Do not tell me you're expecting the Wall to help with this new rescue mission of yours now?"

"I am, actually." Galeforce narrowed his eyes. Dmitri did so in return.

"Really. And why is that? My only concern is with the Wall."

"Which was exactly one of the major issues in this mission, Petrov." He brought up an _entire clipboard_ into frame, which might've been a little funny were the atmosphere not so thick.  
"Bringing back the question you dodged earlier, you should've had all your nearby personnel secure the pier."

"And make all my guards leave their post? You must be crazy."

"This was a dire mistake early in the mission. If Henry and Ellie were not assigned to sort the situation there, they could've continued to patrol and chase down the leaders quicker after you encountered them. A prison break needn't happen in the first place."

Dmitri only harrumphed. "What else do you have on there." He made a pointed look at the comedic list. The General put it out of frame with a huff.

"Another reason the clan were able to hit in and out so quickly, was because they had much less members to retrieve this time."

"Are you saying I shouldn't have scattered them?!" He scoffed.

"No. It was a completely sound strategy. I'm only saying that was the reason there wasn't enough time for all of you to do your job _properly._ " Dmitri grumped.

"Fine, fine. But what, now you want me to send my men over to a fight for some moron who damaged my own complex? Wh-" He jumped at the sudden slam on the table, Henry now standing up and leaning over it, seething.

"Don't you _dare_ say another fucking word." Dmitri looked more surprised at Henry speaking than anything else. Grigori was shocked as well, but still moved to push Henry away.  
Before he could even touch him though, Ellie drew a pistol from lord knows where, a silent snarl directed to Grigori.

"Ellie." The General warned. "Put that down this instant."

Holstering it, she obeyed, but _only_ because she actually felt a little bad at how exasperated he sounded. Everyone settled back down, as Galeforce pinched his temples.

"..The reason the Triple Threat's my best division, is due to your excellent communication and chemistry... I should've expected this, trying to get two opposing groups to work together." He sighed deeply.  
"Dmitri, all I'm asking is to have reinforcements on standby. We might not need them, but I just want you to provide backup in case we do."

"And if I refuse?"

The General blinked.  
"How about I put it this way. You are running a _private_ prison, with multiple health code violations and unfounded arrests. We're not the authorities over this land, but I _could_ alert the Canadian government of your establishment. And you wouldn't want that to happen, would you?"

The ensuing staredown didn't last very long, and Dmitri doubled down with a grimace.  
"..I will have a few troops ready to go."

"Thank you." The General took a minute to compose himself. "Ellie. Henry." They perked up curiously. "I'll send a jeep to pick you up soon. You will arrive at the temporary base we set up, a mile away from the ongoing confrontation. I'll let you know if anything happens."

The two saluted, and the call ended at long last.  
  
Ellie was the first to get up, out the door before Henry could even stand. Right as Henry reached the exit however, Dmitri had one last thing to say.

"You've taken everything from me.." Henry turned, on edge. The warden wouldn't try anything risky here, would he? "My reputation, is ruined." Dmitri was turned around on his chair, voice solemn for once.  
  
Henry waited for the rest of the line, but it never came. Guess that's all there was to it. He shook his head and left, shutting the door, never to see the Wall (hopefully) ever again.

He caught up with Ellie, squeezing her arm again as thanks for having his back. This time, she squeezed back.

"We're going to get him back." She spoke up once the two of them were finally out of the complex, waiting by the driveway.

"I know."  
Granted that the clan still had Charles and weren't going to simply give him up (and he wasn't even going to _entertain_ the scenario of them killing Charles before they could reach him) there was no question about it in his mind that they would rescue him.  
It was up to the toppats, and how many bloody hairs they decide to hurt on the pilot, that would determine whether it went smoothly or not.

  
  
\---

  
  
"Well. I suppose our luck had to run out eventually." Reginald glowered at the line of tanks and soldiers, blocking them from their base. They got off the ferry and back into their car caravan rather quickly, but it appears the military beat them to it.  
RHM was close behind, also contemplating.

"There's too many of em. Dunno how they figured where our last base was but.." He grumbled, sitting down on the side seats in the back of their truck. "We can't go around them either."

"Maybe we could try to deploy a diversion? From our men at base?"

"Hrm, still too many that'll likely stay behind and fight us. What we could try here is sneak a few of us with the hostage into the base. That way, we can establish proper communications to bargain with the government."

Reginald tightly twisted his moustache, a typical sign of stress for him, and RHM stood to walk back to him. "C'mon Reg. What're you thinking?"

"Oh-- I'm thinking that this is hopeless!" He spun on him, frustrated. "Things are looking bad for the clan right now. We may have their pilot, but that's just about the only thing stopping them from destroying us all now! If.. if this turns out to be the end of the road for us, I-"

"Hush now, don't say that." RHM carefully brought Reginald closer to him, holding his arms. "We've gotten out of plenty of tight pickles before. We'll rise out of it again."

He sighed. "I don't know... just- just tell me you'll be with me till the end Bull?"

RHM chuckled. "You haven't called me by that nickname in a while."

Reginald smacked him on the chest. "Ow, okay. Goes without saying but.. you know I'll always be there Regi. No matter what. You know that."

He leaned into RHM's hand, crumbling. "I do.. guess I always get a little silly before something big like this. Remember when we overthrew Suave?"

"Nothing could make me forget that." RHM grinned. "You were so nervous. But his face when his leg got cut off-"

"Ho! Priceless that." The two's staches brushed against each other, strands away from a fully fledged kiss. Reginald angled his face slightly down, then--

"Awww!"

They departed, oh so helpfully reminded that they were still sharing the rear with a certain hostage of theirs.

"Oops.. sorry." Charles made a sheepish face. "Go on! Don't let me get in the way between you and a good ti-"

"For pete's sake, can't we gag him?!" Reginald exclaimed to the heavens. RHM irritably huffed.

"We could.. if you gave up your tie like I suggested earlier."

He gasped. "This is my favorite tie!"

"I know."

"You _gave_ it to me!"

"I know."

Charles, unable to detect a mood change ever, asked, "Hope this isn't too personal or anything but uh, are you two married? You guys give me old couple vibes and-"

"OLD??" Reginald, thoroughly offended, took off his tie. "Just take it!" He looked away as he handed the tie over to RHM. "But I'll have you know, I won't be the one to wash it later."

"I know." RHM grunted again as he unwrapped the knot.

"I don't see any wedding rings or anything, but maybe-"

"If we answer, will you stop talking so I won't have to sacrifice my tie?" Reginald snapped.

"Cross my heart!" He did so with both of his cuffed hands, moreso moving his shoulders than arms.

Reginald sat down with RHM, back to stress-twisting his mustache. "Yes, we're married. And we have been for a while. Happy?"

"But what about-"

RHM abruptly pointed to his ear, followed by an abashed Reginald. Charles squinted, then lit up.

"Oh! Wedding earrings, that's so cute."

"There, we answered yer questions. Now shut it." RHM returned the necktie, redoing it around Reginald's collar.

"Thanks for answerin-"

"What'd I just say?!" Charles zipped his mouth, dropping the key. RHM sighed, rubbing Reginald's neck after finishing the tie.

"I'm starting to regret this." Copperbottom spoke to the clouds.

"What.. invading the Wall? Kidnapping the army pilot?"

"All of it." A long stretch of silence ensued. Well, not entirely silent. Several members of others cars far away were shouting to and fro in conversation with nearby vehicles, but it was as silent as their own truck could get.  
Until RHM slowly straightened his back, lightbulb flickering over his hat.

"Say.. didn't we have a megaphone stashed in the car somewhere?"

"I recall you stashing quite a lot of junk in there, why."

"Maybe we don't have to sneak our way back into base."

"What do you mean?"

RHM knocked the front of the truck, quiply ordering the driver to search for it. "Who says we need the base for initial communications?"

Reginald caught on, face brightening steadily. "Right... we just might be able to start the bargain right here. Not too close for a possible reverse hostage grab, but close enough to negotiate.."  
He sprung to his feet, hugging RHM. "Brilliant! And if we play our cards right, we can walk away with all our imprisoned members' files. Even if we lose the base, we can regroup, we can-- oh, I'm sorry for ever complaining about how you leave literally every single thing you ever find on the car floor."

"That doesn't sound like an apology, but I'll take it." They shared a short peck on the lips, as they tend do when in their scheming element, or just when the both of them feel plain devious.

"Aww-"

_"YOU--"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do i know what tone means? yes. do i know how to keep it consistently?  
> don't make me laugh.
> 
> also gay moustache couple go vroom vroom hhh  
> after polythreat and Charles x Henry, they're the next favorite ship for me, mainly bc of all their interactions ingame. the amount of homoerotic subtext is *chef's kiss*


	13. descent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so maybe i wrote fics instead of essays WHAT ABOUT IT

Henry's knee bopped up and down to the rhythm of his ridiculously racing heartbeat, probably annoying Ellie to hell and back as they were sharing the same bench and all, but he couldn't focus on that in the moment.

All he could focus on was how _close_ they were right now.  
After being dropped off by the military jeep, they were seated to wait for the General in a set up camp with a wide, open view of the conflict afar.  
He could spot the toppat base from their point of view, in front of it being a clear, long line of army green. Not too far below was the large herd of likely stolen cars. Many of them had some blurry sticks with top hats on, moving about, but not attacking just yet.

None with a pair of red headphones though.

"Quit it." Ellie bumped him on the shoulder, breaking his search. "I know what you're thinking."

He rose a brow.

"And the answer's no; I'm not going to let you madly run in to try and rescue your boyfriend like some demented knight."

Henry groused, leaning back on the bench with arms over his eyes. _Boyfriend.  
_ And they were just starting to get used to that term too.  
  
He figured this whole fiasco of a mess might've happened eventually, what with his varied luck and Charles' knack for getting into trouble (often by his own volition), but _really?_ Now??  
RIGHT when they were getting into the swing of things back at their base home? Learning what it'd be like to share a room (turns out they're both scatterbrained idiots with differing systems of organization) or what makes the other tick?? Finding out what dishes they enjoy, which topics to avoid, where exactly to touch to make the other sigh and snuggle in closer???

They became just as domestically gross as Ellie predicted, and then some--and it was going _great._

"..I just can't lose him." Henry spoke for the first time since they got on the jeep and waved the Wall goodbye with two very specific fingers stuck up at them.

Ellie nodded. "And we won't. But, you gotta understand.. I am _not_ about to lose you too." Henry turned to her at that.

"I'll be careful."

"Yeah, careful with whatever _plan_ we come up with for the rescue. Don't just go in guns blazing."

Henry grumbled, about to say how he wished he had his redo powers back right about now. But then he promptly remembered that, hey, the deity/god/whatever didn't do _shit_ to help prevent Charles' death before so..  
He rubbed his face.

"Ok. Ok, I won't."

"Better not."

Someone cleared their throat behind them and the two startled, twisting round.

"General." Ellie stood up as Henry tried to pretend he _wasn't_ just contemplating ditching their meeting. "How's it looking so far?"

"Still a stalemate." He already looked weary from the meetings he got back from with his specialists, which Ellie and Henry took as a bad sign.

"Anyone seen Charles yet?" Henry asked. It's not like he had 20/20 vision, but you'd think a pair of cherry-red headphones would stick out like a sore thumb.  
The General led them to a nearby tent with a table in it, several rudimentary computer screens set up on top. He sat in front of them, the other two leaning forward.

"No, but I've a feeling we will soon enough."

Ellie poked at one of the screens, prompting Galeforce to swat her hand away. "What do you mean? Are the leaders going to bring him over to try and make some kind of exchange?"

"You're half right. I got reports of the leaders setting up some sort of a sound system, so it's safe to say they'll do it from there. I assume they took one of our own as hostage in order to get all their scattered members' locations, but.."

He stroked his beard, brow furrowed. When he took too long to respond, Ellie shrugged one shoulder. "But.. what? If they ask to trade Charles for a bunch of files, can't we?"

A grimace. "It... would be best if we can avoid that situation."

Henry's eye twitched. "And why should we." The General sighed, having expected this.

"See here, I understand that you all ar-"

"No, you don't." Henry gestured to one of the screens, showing footage of the immobile group of cars from the army's perspective. "We are going to do anything to get him back, _in one piece_ , so you-"

"You are in no position to order me about Stickmin, so _stand down_." Galeforce asserted, waiting a good thirty seconds before Henry finally huffed and stepped away.  
"Now listen. Charlie has been under my supervision for a while now. I DO understand that we all have a personal tie to him.. but as much as I hate to say this, I cannot put our toppat operations over Charlie."

The idea of just sprinting toward the cars and shooting his way to get Charles was starting to sound more and more appealing to Henry. Ellie gripped his wrist warningly.  
  
Damn, was he that obvious?

"I apologize, but I won't be able to barter with the rest of the toppat files. If I do, they'll be able to rebuild much more rapidly, especially since they're now still organized with a central leader." He spun in the chair, facing the two better.  
"But we _are_ going to rescue him. Here's the current plan my board came up with."

He opened up a fully scanned map of the toppat base on one of the larger screens. It was surprisingly deep, a lot more than either of them expected.  
"Since we've currently got the place guarded, we can sneak in a few personnel into the base. They can wait for Charlie to arrive there, then help break him out from within."  
Galeforce clicked a button, popping up eight little markers scattered throughout the base, most of them being concentrated on the top.

"Can't have too many in there though.."

Ellie waved her hands. "Wait wait, so the plan is to basically just let em keep Charles?"

" _For now._ We refuse their bargain if it goes beyond what we can provide, fake a retreat so they take Charlie to the base, then our folks inside can cause some chaos to cover up his escape." He closed the map and stood up.  
"That's where you two come in."

They straightened, Henry already opening his mouth to volunteer as one of the insider ag-

"Ellie's goin in." _Pardon._

"What!" Henry coughed, choking on spit. Ellie thumped his back with a fist.

"I.. don't like the plan, but I'm gonna have to agree with the General on that one."

" _What!?"_ He felt a brief brush of betrayal, but stuffed his protests when Ellie pinned him down with her eyes. And those blue eyes could get real cold, _real_ fast _._ Trust, he knows from experience.

"Look, I know you wanna be the one to get him outta there, but let's be real here. You're gonna be too.." She trailed.

"Emotionally compromised." Galeforce offered.

"Yeah, sure. That. We all love him Henry, but you're probably going to go a little ballistic if you see him getting hurt." Well... Henry shifted on his feet. She wasn't _wrong_.  
He'd go _very_ ballistic.  
"This'll be a half stealth, half bust-out rescue mission. Normally, we switch between leading either the stealth portions or bust ins, but this time you gotta let me handle both. Okay?"

Henry closed his eyes, trying his damndest to douse out his indignance with reasoning.

 _If I lose it in there (which is LIKELY), I could compromise the mission. Could fail or end up with Charles getting even more hurt_ _or.. or..._ He groaned.  
Henry REALLY didn't like this plan.

But it was the best they had.

He lowered his head. "...Fine." Then back up to the General. "But then.. what _am_ I going to do?"

Galeforce nodded his head toward the computers. "What Charlie usually does. Recon."

Fucking whaaaaat.

  
  
\---

  
  
Charles was finding being gagged to be WAY more annoying than he thought it'd be. It helped to simply speak the words into the tie, but it just wasn't the same.

Especially when he actually wanted to say something _urgent_ , like, "Hey, my arm's a little broken, maybe _don't_ move me around like a trinket or something???"

Any shouts came out muffled, but eventually they were enough to make RHM turn away from setting up their megaphone to some.. speakers? Hell did those come from??

"What is it now." He stepped away from the edge of the truck, almost done arranging it all.

Charles eyed the gag pleadingly. RHM reluctantly pushed it down.

"Broken arm, cracked rib." He wheezed out quickly.  
For the most part, Charles was able to ignore much of the pain during the ride. He came to when they first boarded the cars, then everything generally remained still once they reached the base. But after he was roughly moved to the ground after Reginald apparently had "just about enough", he felt like that might've agitated the injuries a little.  
A lot.  
And the burning only got worse as time went on.

RHM actually rose a brow, looking slightly concerned, which was more than Charles had expected from the "Bull" really.

"Hrm. Oi Reg!" He called back to the front seats, where Reginald was talking to the driver.

"Yes?"

"Hostage's got some internal injuries. I reckon from the crash he did. Yer orders?"

A black glove waved from the opening. "Mm, your choice."

Charles wilted. Well, guess he wasn't going to be getting any aid then. Honestly should've expected that comi--what is he doing.

RHM knelt over and rapidly uncuffed one hand, clipping the rest unto the back truck window. A finger lightly prodded his ribs--"Ow, careful!"--and after they determined that the rib wasn't fully broken, he briefly traced the injured arm, nudging the broken parts (though not without plenty of alarmed noises from Charles of course).  
Then, he firmly gripped both the upper arm and wrist.

"M' gonna set it, aright?"

Charles took a steadying breath. Least, as much as he could with the fractured rib. He's had to do this once or twice before, but he'd never get used to it. "Okay."

Turns out "okay" was the green light for him, which, _hey._ A countdown would've been appreciated.  
RHM promptly jerked the forearm in while simultaneously stretching the whole arm out with a firm yank. Charles yelped, then lowered his head to get the tie back between his teeth, gritting.

It took the second pull for an audible _"grck"_ to be heard, and RHM smoothed down the swollen arm.  
"That should do it." Charles spit out the tie, wiping a tear away against his shoulder.

"Th.. thanks." He waited for the gag to return back into his mouth, but surprisingly enough, RHM only recuffed both his hands and pocketed the tie. "Uh.."

"Just pipe down and we won't have to muff ya." He returned to the speakers. Charles slowly nodded to his back.  
Alright, so maybe all that "gentlemen's code" bullshit the Toppat Clan advertised (to other criminals anyway) did have _some_ merit after all.  
They still were criminals though.

"All done!" RHM hollered over, flicking the system on. Reginald exited the front and leapt back into the rear.

"Excellent. Let's begin the negotiations at once then." With a signal from him, the driver began to move in.. reverse. The truck turned and backed up to where the first line of the army stood. Still closer to all the cars behind (er, in front?), but just enough of an outlier for the soldiers to reangle all their weapons.

Reginald tapped the megaphone a few times. "Testing, testing.. _a_ _hem._ Alright- listen up. And don't anyone shoot.. unless you want your precious pilot to get hurt!" On cue, RHM yanked Charles up to his feet by his shirt.  
Rude, but he didn't do it so much as to jostle the recently set arm, so there was that.

Charles' eyes scanned over the frontline several times as Reginald made his speech, but couldn't find his other two "threats". They ought to have been brought in by the General by now..

Where _were_ they?

  
  
\---

  
  
"General! They've begun negotiations!" A random solider called over from the scene, right as Galeforce wrapped up showing Henry how to navigate the base's mainframe and camera system. Henry figured it wouldn't be the same as providing backup from a helicopter, but it sure looked to have nearly as many little buttons and controls.  
  
They moved to a tent much closer to the base, but still shrouded in enough forestry to be well concealed. It was actually rather close to the distance where Henry and Charles had their first kiss, which was both just plain sad and hysterically ironic to him.

"I'll be there." The General stood, beckoning some higher ranking soldiers to come with him. "Ellie, Henry, I don't want them to know you're here so stay behind. You know which cams are ours." With that, he headed out of the tent.

Ellie sat in the chair the General left, scooching in to the screens Henry was in front of. Significantly less than the other first tent they were in, but it was plenty enough for Henry. When it came to tech, he (as well as Ellie come to think of it) was more a hands-on person than a navigating/hacking computers type.

"Hopefully the negotiations will end up fine so we won't have to bust Charles out of there." Ellie said, fully expecting the complete opposite. Henry had to flip through multiple cams (he was still getting the hang of it okay?) before finally finding the one the army set up.  
A bit off to the side of the frontlines, but he could still see the stand-alone truck with the leaders on it just fine.

And Charles.

Henry hadn't realized he said his name until his hands were gripping the screen, almost shaking it a little bit as if that would make the camera zoom in.

"Thank fuck he's okay." Charles looked a battered up, but there wasn't any sign of new, fresh injuries. It was still all from that crash he did--which by the way, Charles was going to get a _stern_ talking to about when they got back home.  
That idea helped calm him down a bit, and he settled back into the seat, though still avidly leaned in.

Ellie also blew out a breath of relief. "Good. He didn't sound so hot when I first commed him right after the crash. Least he can stand."

Henry could probably argue that Charles' breathy voice was, in fact, always hot--but now really, _really_ wasn't the time nor place for that.  
They both quieted once more sound came through, Reginald going on about the greatness of the Toppat Clan and how they will prevail and yadda yadda- Henry didn't honestly keep track. He just documented every move, glance, expression that flitted over Charles' face.

Some surprise, concern, worry, curiosity, a trace of fear, _pain--_

"What the shit." Henry gripped the rickety wooden table, creaking it. He must've been really zeroed in, because he blinked and now there was a knife to Charles' throat and what, what, _what.  
_ Ellie paused in gnawing her fingernail and looked at him questioningly.

"Haven't you been listening?"

Henry's blown pupils answered her immediately and she shook her head.

"Toppat chief wants the goddamn files. They're not too happy the General's refused, so now they're threatening to cut him."

He whipped his head out the tent, craning for a better view of the conflict. He could just about make out Charles' side profile, and the reflected glint off the blade _._ What was he _doing_ just sitting around? He had to _go_ there, be there for him, _save-_

"I said _don't._ " Ellie ground out, pulling Henry fully back into his chair.

"He's right. There."

"He is, but remember they're not _actually_ going to kill him. If they do, it's game over and the army would just obliterate them now. They're not dumb."

Henry hadn't even noticed that was the cause for his panic, and forced himself to take some long breaths. He wouldn't be able to handle Charles' death a _second_ bloody time. That'd be too much. Too cruel. Permanent to boot.  
Ellie patted Henry's arm as he calmed down. "There you go. Henry, I want to stomp out those fuckers as much as you do, but if we're gonna kick their asses, we gotta do it smart."

"I know. I know.." Henry flexed his fingers, eyes still dead on the screen. It was hard to tell at first, with the large generic hat in the way, but he figured it was RHM holding Charles up. The bastard.

"Hey, I think the deal's done." Ellie pointed. The army began to part down in the middle, allowing the cars to enter the warehouse cover. "Gonna have to do this the hard way then." Figures.

A walkie-talkie on the desk sputtered to life. Ellie answered it, pulling away when Galeforce's voice blared on its speakers.

"It's go time. Get all of y'all mics ready, and get into position Rose. We'll let them in once you're set. Stickmin, when they bring Charles inside, follow where they take him with the cams. If you need any help, call our tech support."

"Got it." Ellie put it away and checked herself over, making sure she had all the equipment the General set out for her. But before she left, Henry grabbed her hand, squeezing it hard. She returned the effort, grinning.

"You don't have to worry about me."

"Gonna anyway."

"Just keep an eye on your man and keep me updated." They both withdrew.

"Only if you promise to kick their asses extra hard."

"Triple hard. Nobody'll fuck with us like this again, that's a promise."

A tall order of a promise to be sure, one that Ellie hardly ever dished out for fun. Henry nodded, giving a mock salute as she left the tent, seamlessly moving into the crowds of soldiers closer to the base soon after.

Henry returned to the cams, finding Charles again in no time. He was now seated back on the truck, Reginald waiting for the signal to drive on in, with RHM still pointing that stupid knife on Charles. Guy was lucky Henry couldn't annihilate him in one of many ways he was able to defeat him before with his abilities.

It was then he realized that, Charles' constant glances to the army were actually him _searching_ for the rest of the Triple Threat, and _fuck_ if that didn't make him want to up and run to him right then, shouting how it isn't so.  
  
He really ought to glue himself to the seat at this point.

Henry maintained enough self control to not go bounding out of the tent for the fourth time or so, instead whispering. "I'm here." Knowing that really, it was more for himself than anything else.  
"I'm here."

  
  
\---  
  


  
Charles zoned out after the first several sentences of Reginald's opening remarks, choosing to keep scouring the troops instead. He spotted General Galeforce emerge to the front, so that was nice. Still wished he could see Henry or Ellie though. Their faces would do a mountain of good in helping him to relax.

He glanced at RHM, still firmly grasping his shirt and good arm. Dude was somehow completely engrossed in the speech. Now that's love.

While Charles will always work to help bring the toppats down, it still was somewhat of a pleasant surprise to know that they weren't all _that_ awful. They were moreso just.. talented and overly extravagant thieves, rather than anyone seriously looking out to maliciously harm innocent folks or anything.  
And this was proven again, after the General refused Reginald's demand for their jailed members' files.

"What?!" Reginald was furious. He was sure this would work. It was kinda the whole point in taking a hostage from a division close to the General. Galeforce was promoted as a specialist for toppat cases, and as flattering as that was, their relentless hunt has long since been _annoying._  
Copperbottom switched off the speakers irritably.  
  
Charles would be lying if he said he didn't feel a teeny bit hurt at the denial, maybe a little shocked, but he quickly shook it off. He understood the General's position; he was just doing his job.  
He then caught Galeforce's eye as Reginald ranted to RHM about the "outrageous" refusal.

Apologetic, mostly, but he could tell there was some sort of message he wanted to convey through eyes alone. He looked somewhat determined.  
Charles expected maybe some Morse code through blinking or another form of silent communication, but all the yelling literally a few feet away from him soon drew his attention.

"Well then what now! If anything, we at least should reconvene back at base. All our best weapons are still in there."

RHM fingered his moustache, deep in thought. "..looks like we'll need to up the stakes a bit."

"How so?"

"It'll depend on how much they actually value this pilot, but the only way we can get back inside, and maybe even get the files, is..." He grunted, hoisting Charles up higher till he was nearly on his tiptoes.  
"Sorry kid. Nothin' personal."

Charles' eyes widened as RHM pulled a knife out to his neck, the edge just barely grazing his throat. He gulped. Well, the hospitability was nice while it lasted.

Reginald looked surprised at the sudden move. "Right Hand Man! What're you doing? You can't kill him!"

"Obviously." RHM replied in a low voice, even though the megaphone was off. "They'll mow us down otherwise. I'm just tryna gauge their responses." And respond the army did. Many startled or cocked their guns to shoot, but the General held a hand up, who looked rather grimly pale himself.

Charles winced. This wasn't fun. He may be used to being the source of distress for a bunch of people (his superiors, the mechanics, Henry), but this just felt different. Aside from the fact that he's now affirmed his wishes to change his.. less than survivable stunts, there just were different ramifications here.  
He survived most of his risky antics fairly steadily (guess someone up there likes him) and even then, before the Triple Threat was formed, they were rather rare.

The knife held against him gave a sense of imminent doom. Of an end that he so happened to recently decide _not_ to embrace.

"Seems they like this guy." RHM muttered. "Figure maybe.. a few nicks on the collar would do the trick."

"Yes- but.." Reginald fretted a little, making RHM look at him. "This isn't the toppat way. It's not how we do things here. Sure we do violent coups for power and whatnot, but we don't torture. Not civilians anyway or-"

"I get that Regi, but we're kind of at our wit's end here. 'Sides, worst I'll ever do with him is a few broken fingers." Charles internally groaned, his fingers already feeling sore at the idea. Whoopee.

"Hmn.." Reginald hesitated before picking the megaphone up again, turning it all back on.  
"If you won't give us the files, then I'm afraid we'll have no choice but to kill him."  
A clear fib, everyone could tell. It still made the General scowl though. He spoke into a complex sound system of their own, hooked to a communicator.

"I repeat, release the hostage now peacefully, or we will have to shoot. Come out with your hands up and surrender."  
Another transparent lie. They wouldn't dare shoot. Not with Charles in bullet's or knife's way. Otherwise, they would've already attacked a long time ago.

A long beat hung in heavy silence. Charles was pretty sure a tiny bit of blood got pricked out and slid down his throat, but it also could've been sweat, who knows.

Ever impatient, Reginald huffed, doubling down. "We will not surrender. However, we'll adjust our trade. Let us through to our base, and the pilot won't get hur-"

"Deal."

"What." Reginald coughed. "I mean- GOOD. Er, withdraw your army and let us in without a problem, and we won't harm him." The General visibly ordered the troops to make like the red sea and split. Reginald blinked.

"He.. certainly agreed to that a lot quicker than I thought he would."

"Yeah..." RHM didn't like how easily the General acquiesced to that request, but he chalked it up to him just _really_ not wanting to lose the helicopter talent. He dropped Charles, letting him crumple back to the floor, still keeping a knife pointed towards him.

"Alright, turn the truck around and lead us all in once they give the go ahead." Reginald ordered to the driver. He nodded, returning the truck back to the main group of cars.  
After they finished relaying information to all the toppats, it took a good while before the General finally called over for them to drive through.

As the clan made their way in, the army dispersed, returning to their main camps.  
A few troops supervised the entrance, couple soldiers being some Charles relatively knew--which was pretty awkward, not gonna lie. The General was further away, turned around.  
And still no Henry or Ellie.  
  
Once everybody was in, Reginald hailed the last group to shut and lock all the warehouse doors. And with that definitive slam, Charles deflated.

He had no idea whether the General enacted a rescue plan already or not, or if it even involved the Triple Threat. Well, he wasn't so much a "threat" anymore per se, so he guessed it'd be the Double Threat now, but that wasn't nearly as catchy. Double Trouble maybe?

"The hell you snickerin about." RHM grumbled as he dragged Charles out the truck by the cuffs. Charles, for once, decided not to answer.

"Okay everybody!" Reginald clapped his hands, silencing the crowded warehouse. "We were able to avoid an all out fight through the hostage, but we still must prepare for one! They know our last location, so we're pretty much stuck here until we can recover our full forces and start rebuilding."

Some toppat with what Charles suspected to be actual _cheese_ on his head, raised his hand.

"How are we goin to do that? They might arrest us if we try and leave to the tem-"

"Hush you, remember we've still got an army boy in here with us!" Reginald waved his hands. Charles cocked his head. Leave? Leave to where... another base possibly? No, he's heard them say plenty of times that this was their last one..  
"And don't worry, they won't try anything with us until they get their pilot back. For now, everyone go downstairs and get into offensive positions, just in case."

Oh right, Charles recalled there being some weapons built into their underground facilities. If he had to guess, machine gun turrets. If anything, it'll have to be their last resort.

Everyone trickled out, uneasy of the unresolved threat outside. Reginald snapped his fingers at the last remaining group. "Me and my Right Hand Man need to arrange a meeting with the planning division. Slice, I'll be entrusting the hostage to your group. Take him to the bottom."

Slice? What kind of a na- _oh._ Hm.  
Charles wasn't sure if he wanted to supervised by someone who took a whole knife to the face.

"Haha, actually- I wouldn't mind staying with the leaders? Y'know, not that big of a deal, it's-" RHM cut him off with a shake to the cuffs.

"He's a talker. See if you can interrogate him. We'll call you later with further instructions soon." Charles sighed, handed over to Slice and the three other toppats with him.

Slice nodded, everyone following as he tugged Charles down the halls, getting into one of several elevators at the end. Reginald and RHM went off to some other room, leaving him and the four criminals. Again, pretty awkward being the only soldier in a whole base full of toppats.

Hold up.

Charles did a double take at all the buttons in the elevator.

"Twenty?!" Good grief, he figured there'd be eight floors tops. If he were to escape, he'd either have to take the stairs or risk a very, very long elevator ride.

Slice shook his head, sliding open a mini compartment to reveal another button.

"Twenty-one. That's where we're headed."

Ah. Wonderful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh i feel bad for giving another slow chapter, why do i always write like this :s  
> i promise pain soon donworry :,)


	14. red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> buckle up folks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: torture scene begins and ends with this sign: ***
> 
> anything goes

Whenever Ellie or Henry had to crawl through the vents during a mission, Charles would very typically adlib a parody of a song on mic. He'd do it for just about any sort of monotonous, long task the two had to engage in, but it happened especially often with the vents.

Ellie hadn't realized how comforting it was, till she found herself shuffling through the toppat base's ventilation system in utter silence. Henry helped guide her around the whirring fans down the fastest route, but it was still supremely slow going, and while she always said that the singing (or just as oft, humming) was annoying.. she kinda missed it.

It helped unravel a bit of tension in the riskier missions, and she could tell Henry missed it too.

"Hang on." Henry paused in giving directions, frantic mouse clicks audible from the background.

Ellie took this minute to lower herself flat--her back was bloody killing her.

"They're taking Charles to the elevator now. The sound quality's pretty bad, dunno what Reginald said.." Henry hopped across the cams in the hallway. "Four other toppats with him."

"Is there a camera in the elevator?"

"Thankfully yea--oh crap."

"Hm?"

"There's twenty floo.. no, wait... one of the toppats pressed a hidden button. There's twenty-one floors. They're going there."

Ellie massaged her spine. "Great fuck, I know the base was deep but.."

"Looking into it though, I think a bunch of the floors are empty. So that's good."

"Well, how many floors have I passed so far?" She was assigned to the lower levels by the General, since any prisons would likely be closer to the end (and he was right to assume so; they were going _dead_ to the bottom of hell). There were already various hidden soldiers across the higher floors.

"So far.. three."

"..."

"How long do you think it'll take for you to get there?"

"If I hurry--jeez Henry, this is eighteen floors we're talking about--at _minimum,_ 50 minutes."

"Shit!"

"Hey, it's alright. An hour's not too long."

"No- I mean, there's.. there's no cameras in the bottom floor."

"..What?"

"There's--there's no.. no, fucking fuck!" Henry was close to smashing the computers. What good are they if he can't keep an eye on Charles? He couldn't stand _not_ knowing what was going on, what might be happening to him.

Ellie grunted, beginning to shuffle forwards again. "Henry.." She wished she could be there for him right now, but she couldn't, and she wasn't about to ask the General (or anyone else for that matter) to comfortingly hold him or some shit. So, it was time to lie.

"Henry, it's fine. They'll probably just keep watch on him this hour. Look, if I see an opening, I'll get out the vents and try to get there faster. For now, just use the cams to help me find one, okay?"

She could hear his breaths, staving off the frustration. "Okay. I can do that."

"He's gonna be alright."

"He's gonna be alright."

Ellie closed her eyes as she lumbered on, knowing damn well that he likely was gonna be less than alright by the time she'd reach him. After all, why would the toppats pass up an opportunity to shake him up for information?

But she knew he'd be alive, and that's what counted right now.

"Ellie."

"Yes?"

"About ten floors down.. there's a three level long unit. Pretty sure it's their cafeteria or something."

"A good spot to drop out the vents?"

"Maybe. If it's clear, I can help you sneak down so you can reach Charles faster."

"Ok. Then from there, it's plan alpha. Should be a smooth breakout after."

"Or plan gamma if he's.. immobile."

"So long as he can walk, he'll be able to handle himself. I once saw him nearly cut his finger off while cooking and he acted like it was a papercut."

"Yeah.. he's an idiot." Ellie heard a sniff.

"But he's our idiot. Don't stress so much, I'll get to him soon."

"Soon... you're four floors in now by the way."

"Fuck me."

\---

Charles was allowed a whopping ten seconds of freedom, before getting recuffed onto a chair. Hurrah.

The basement looked just about as abandoned as their warehouse front, which he was starting to suspect wasn't just a warehouse when it was in use, cause what kind of warehouse has _twenty-one_ levels to it?! Even if the elevation in the area was high, that's ridiculous.

There was all but one hallway when the elevator opened, and a handful of doors. The room they were in right now seemed like a typical interrogation chamber. Dull, concrete grey, with very little furniture and junk scattered about. One singular light up above, casting harsh shadows.  
Overall, a _very_ different vibe than when he was with the toppat leaders.  
Sure one of them held a knife to his throat, but everybody kinda knew nothing was going to happen. Here.. well, he was still pretty sure they wouldn't just up and kill him, but it definitely was cloaked with a heavier atmosphere.

Slice sat in front of him across a thin table on another chair. One, notably, without any arm restraints attached.

"I know the place is a bit.. damp. But, you'll likely be transferred out of here soon enough, so not to worry." Huh. The guy doesn't seem as rough and tough as Charles had expected. He almost looked.. nice? "We'll just need to ask you a few questions here first."

Aight. Charles braced himself. Let's see how nice he really was.

"A few questions huh?" Charles shrugged much as he could with the barred wrists. The movement reminded Charles of his recently recovered shoulder. If it somehow got shot there again in _any way_ , he was going to lose his mind. "Alrighty then, shoot. Er- I mean, _don't_ shoot, no."

The other three toppats lingered around the room. Two (one with a plain black top, the other with a really crummy looking brown one) were conversing lowly by the door, assumedly as guards, not wanting to get involved. The third, equipped with a flattish dark pink hat and matching shoes, spoke as he walked over.

"We won't shoot." He unsheathed a rather sharp _knife_ however, and stuck it unto the table cleanly. Didn't say anything more, but the threat was fairly to the point.

Slice sighed. "We won't be needing that Skeev, please." He turned back to Charles. "Just answer, and nothing'll happen, right?"

_Supposedly._

"...What exactly is your relation to General Galeforce?" Random, but seemed harmless enough.

"Welll, he's just my commanding officer really."

"But you've be under him for near a decade?"

"Wow! How'd you know that? You some kind of fortune teller?"

Undeterred. "A decade exactly, correct?"

Charles tsked. Guess digressing won't do him much good here. But it couldn't hurt to say if they knew the answer already.

"Yeah."

"So you two must be close, correct?" Very much so, but he'd rather not say that here.

He made an "ehh" motion with the restricted hand of his good arm.

Slice hummed. "And what about your current covert-ops division? The Triple Threat?"

"Ohh, they're pretty cool. Never had any work complaints with them. Well, maybe others have, but definitely not _me._ " Slice almost cracked a grin, but remained professional.

A few more basic background questions went back and forth, till one of the toppats got tired.

"C'mon Slice, ain't none of this soft talk working with him." Skeev shook his head.

"This is only to confirm a couple things. We haven't gotten any orders from the chief yet to really dig for intel. And even then, that's not important."

"How's it not important? The clan isn't at its best right now. Any little piece would help."

"I understand, but our main concern now is to get the government off our backs, and begin rebuilding. We've already gotten a decent footing, it's just that the scatterin-"

Slice looked down suddenly at his belt. An obnoxious ringtone filled the room. He quickly answered it.  
"Yes chief? Uh-huh... hm. No, no, we haven't.. okay. Right, I will." He pocketed the phone. "Everyone, the chief ordered us to set up a cam for communications here."

"What for?"

"He said the first strategy to try now would be to get the General to second-guess himself so he'd give up the files. Err, Jarsh? Chip? Could you two please bring the equipment?" They reluctantly nodded, leaving.

"Still think we should get some intel outta him.."

"I mean, if it helps, I don't really know a thing about classified information." Charles piped up. "None of the Triple Threat do really. We just kinda.. do our thing."

He scoffed. "That's just what you want us to think!"

"No, seriously, I literally know nothing."

"Alright, that's enough out of you Skeev." Slice stood from the chair with a sigh. "Honestly.. you know what? Come out here."

Slice led him out the door to talk. They walked down the hallway, so Charles couldn't really hear what they were bickering over. The arguing got louder and louder, then cut off, strangely enough. Once they came back, Skeev looked.. not placated, but he didn't make anymore biting remarks. He merely stared hard at the walls, and kept doing so even after the other two returned with the cams and computer, setting it up.

"Oh right, can't have you talking." Slice muttered. Charles groaned. He was hating gags more and more by the minute.

"I'll get it." Skeev spoke up at least, leaving right after.

After a lengthy five minutes passed by silently, with still no sign of his return, Slice received another call on his phone.

"Chief? Everything is set up, we onl... huh? What?? Right now?" Slice looked confused, briefly glancing at the other two. "Um.. alright then. I'll be right there.." The call ended.

"I'm.. not quite sure why, but the chief ordered me to his office. You two stay here and keep an eye on him till I get back." With that, Slice left too.

No more than three minutes after he left, the other two walked out the room, staying outside the door. Charles couldn't blame them. It was kinda awkward to chat about anything with your friend around a hostage.  
They apparently weren't aware of how thin the walls were around here, so he could eavesdrop without much effort.

"Man.. why're we stuck in here?"

"Told ya we shouldn't have stayed at the end of the caravan."

"Look, if there's any time for us to leave the clan, it's now. After the government's off the front door, let's bail."

Charles cocked his head. Interesting. He didn't think there'd be any toppats who'd decide to abandon the clan. The toppats were sort of the "endgame" for many thieving criminals. Plenty hoped to get recruited or accepted by them.

"Oi you two." A third voice. "Get lost."

"With pleasure."

Unsurprisingly, it was Skeev who came back in. With no gag in hand.

He locked the door.

  
  
\---

  
  
"I am fully expecting two spa massage discounts from the General after this is all done." Ellie grumbled. "Okay, I made it. I can see the cafeteria from here."

Henry made an affirming sound. Not too many people seemed to be there, most of the toppats stationed closer to the top. In fact, much of the floors beneath the cafeteria appeared to be unused, which was perfect.

"You can get out in the next exit. There's a few people by the water cooler, but that's it."

"Gotcha."

Upon reaching the end grate, she took out a screwdriver and opened it, carefully setting it aside. She jumped out as quietly as she could, then booked it to the doors of the stairway.  
"Nobody saw me. Is everything through the stairs clear?"

"It looks like it. Just keep going for now."

"Alright, we're making good time. Let's do this." And to make that time even better, Ellie hopped unto the banister and slid down the stairs.  
  
After near a minute of this, she then scrambled off of it, halting. Footsteps.

"I think I hear someone coming.. can you check the cams below me?"

Henry did, finding two toppats making their way close. He strained to remember their names for a second, then gave up. "..why are they taking the stairs when they got elevators?"

"Dunno, but I'm going out to the floor next to me now. Still empty?"

More clicks. "Yeah."

"I'm gone." Ellie slipped past the heavy door, holding it slightly ajar till she heard the two chattering away up the stairs, then released it to shut. She hated those doors with the fat, metallic push bars. They never closed silently.  
"..Think they're gone. I'll go ba.." She trailed off, finally noticing the details of the large, dimly lit room.

"Ellie? Something wrong?"

"Uh.." Ellie backed up to look at the large, faded sign above the door. Yellow, orange, and red. "There's this big.. sign? I've seen it before."

"A sign?"

"It looks like the letter C. But like, three of it."

"..the CCC? Are you saying that this building used to belong to the Chaos Containment Center?"

"Ah right, that's the name." Ellie poked her head into the stairway, then continued to bolt downwards. "And I don't know. I thought they mainly operated in the states. But, I don't think it really matters."

"No.." It seemed bizarrely random to Henry, but Ellie was right. All that mattered now, was getting to the bottom as soon as possible. And, for a while, it really looked like they were going to in less than ten minutes with Ellie's pace.

"Oh my shit."

"What?" Henry looked a floor down. "I only see three toppats standing on those stairs. Can't you wait em out?"

Ellie scampered several steps back up, peering over the rails. "I can see through the door window at least five other toppats at once."

Henry quickly checked the cam in that room, and dropped his jaw.  
Twenty or so toppat members were carrying crates full of ammo or weapons, to and fro the elevators. It seems like the ones out on the stairs were taking a break.

"They're transporting weapons inside. No chance on going around this by the elevator.. ugh, the vents are too high up in these floors."

"And I really don't want to go back up again to vent crawl down. It'll take too damn long."

"Just, hold till those guys go back in." Henry suggested.

And she did. For seven long minutes.

Soon as the group beneath went back inside, another one came to take their place, the window of opportunity as thin as her sapping patience. Ellie still held out some hope that this was just an unlucky coincidence, that she didn't have to wait until the transfer was completed, until it happened a second time.

"Can I shoot th-"

"Rose."

  
  
\---

  
  
Charles instantly gulped at the locked door. That wasn't ever good. A one on one? Big no bueno.

Skeev moved the table out the way, the screeching sounds making Charles cringe, then he propped the chair up closer and sat down in it. Only after picking back up the knife, of course.

"Uhh.." Charles didn't like this, not one bit. "Where.. where'd all your other pals go?"

"Pals." He sneered. "Sure.. I got the chief to call Slice away, and those other two to beat it. Those guys.. not the most loyal bunch. But apparently, none of that bloody matters."

Charles did a mental fist pump. Making the enemy monologue is (almost) never a disadvantage! He still wasn't sure what was going on with the army, or if anybody was on their way to save him, but he was sure the triple threat in the least would come to get him out eventually.

"..fuckin hell... thinking of cutting ties with me were they.."

"Were they?"

"After all that I've done for them? Loyalty to shit!"

Ohh, this was one of those self monologues. He was talking to himself. Or at least, he was, till he finally turned his eyes to Charles. He waved his knife by the handle as he spoke.

"But I'll show em.. kill two birds with one stone by getting intel outta you, then sending the footage to the government. It's a win-win."

"I.. thought this wasn't the toppat way. Isn't that what Reginald said?"

"Chief can think what he wants. Desperate times call for desperate measures. They'll be thanking me soon enough."

"I mean, the fact that you guys are just huge robbers and not much else is mainly why we won't be charging you with more stuff. You'll get imprisoned, but you won't get like, the death penalty or whatever. So uh.. let's not do anything too hasty here."

"..." Skeev seemed to be contemplating, but it wasn't about anything Charles said. "..I think, I'll tell you a little secret."

"Huh?"

"Who do you think funds the clan when we're running low?"

"..don't you guys just, steal some more stuff?"

"Politicians." Charles' eyes widened. "People in power. Don't got all too many, but we've a handful. They're the ones keepin us afloat right now."

"Y-you.."

"We've already got another rocket in the works thanks to them, somewhere.. away, in a sort of temporary base. But we can't have them launder us too much, so we still need to steal to cover the rest of the costs."

"What're you-"

"Which is _why_ we need more members back. Strength in numbers.. we got some important folks back from the Wall, but it'll take us months to get the scattered bunch back. Months, that the government'll use to pick us all off. The very same government, that's right outside our _last_ stronghold, and whose only single reason for not having already attacked.." He stopped fiddling with the knife and pointed it to the paling pilot. "..is right here."

There could only be one reason why he was telling Charles all this, and it made his gut drop. "Ex.. e-exactly, I'm the only reason they're not just barging in and shooting everywhere. You can't kill me."

"Maybe later." The nonchalance in that line made Charles feel sick. No wonder the clan was thinking of cutting ties with him; he definitely felt like an odd one out. "Look, I already know all that. Thing is, I can get any cold hearted bastard to relent to a hostage I own. Even if all I got's a knife and my limbs. How hard could it be to crack that old man?"

"He.. has a strong work ethic."

"Maybe, but nobody's perfect." Skeev got up, and turned the recorder on.

"Is.. it live?"

"Nah." He sat back down. "Best to edit it later. Clean one for the boss, not so clean one for yours."

"You.. you told me secret toppat information." Skeev nodded. "...you.. can't let me go then."

"See, you get it! Ya can't fool me with that airhead act. So I _know_ you've got to have something." He scooched in the chair a bit. "I'll just need to make sure to edit this part out, and stop the recording before I kill you."

"I.. _really_ don't have any intel to give. And even if I did, I don't break easy."  
Charles never underwent torture training. Never had to because, why would he? He was a pilot for pete's sake! Still, he figured he could handle most pains okay. At least the ones he was used to.. though, he definitely was more accustomed to bullets than stab wounds...  
  
Charles steeled himself. If this really was going out to the General, he was going to have to do his damndest not to make too much noise. He didn't want Galeforce to give in to the toppats just for him, especially if he was going to end up dying anyway. Didn't want Galeforce to see him tortured, period.

Ugh, figures that the day he resolves to stop throwing himself into life-endangering crashes is the day he gets a one way train ticket to the afterlife.

He shook his head suddenly.

 _Come on, think about your friends.. think about Henry... you can't die NOW. That would destroy him!_  
No, Charles had to hold out for as long as he could. Either till he gets rescued, or the rest of the clan discovers what's going on and (hopefully) stops Skeev and kicks him to the curb.

The toppat seemed to take his last words as a challenge, and raised his knife.. "We'll see."

  
  
  
***

  
  
  
..then plunged it down into Charles' forearm. Hard.

Charles screamed as blood instantly splurted out, his voice getting shriller as Skeev wiggled it a bit. He clamped down on his tongue soon after, remembering that he had to make sure to not show too much pain in front of the camera. Though, he didn't think he'd be able to keep from cussing here.  
"Ffffffuuck!! God-" He hissed as Skeev chucked it out, stained in glistening bright red. "-agkhh! A-aren't you supposed to do the stabbing, AFTER you ask me a question??"

"I don't have much time. Best to get right into it so you know I'm not fucking around. Now, tell me.. any of the army's weakspots."

"That.. is a _very_ vague questio-" Skeev nicked him near the wrist of the same bludgeoned arm, right above the cuffs, and he winced. "Aw- come on man, how am I supposed to answer that?" A deeper slash. "Ouch! Will you stop that already?!"

"Just answer the damn question. Where are they weakest? Tech support? Their foot soldiers? Tanks?"

"I dunno if I can keep track of all that stuff dude, it's a lot." Skeev leaned forward, angling the knife against Charles' cheek.

"Stop pissing me off, before I decide to cut up your pretty boy face."

"Whoa, you think I'm pretty?"

"You're not going to be anymore if you don't answer me."

"Well um, I'm flattered, but I uh, got a boyfriend? So, I don't think he'll be very happy if-" Catching him off guard, Skeev drew back fully, then punched him dead on the gut. He wheezed, gasping in surprise. The assault also jolted his injured ribs, and he thickly swallowed down any screams.  
"J-jesus, look.. I don't know. I'm.. I'm not in charge of the entire military, okay? Just another soldier." He caught his breath, trying to curl in on himself. Skeev roughly straightened him up with a push to his shoulder, knocking it against the back of the chair.

"Bullshit. You're their top pilot, and a special covert-ops agent."

"I'm _one_ of their most experienced pilots. But that.. that doesn't mean I'm in every planning conference!"

"Then what about your agent work?"

Charles hummed and pretended to think about it, dragging it out. Maybe they'd have.. roughly thirty minutes before Slice or anybody else comes down? That's not bad.  
  
The knife cut a longer gash on his shoulder, his shirt flooding with sticky red. Bad, bad, bad--  
"Nng! W-we only get briefings from the General, that's it. Seriously."

"Maybe the other two do, but you've been in the army for way longer. You have to be in more than just debriefs."

Well.. he wasn't totally wrong about that. Charles was in more meetings, but usually just because he was more trusted among other officials. He'd always recount everything to Henry and Ellie afterwards.

A hand clutched at his chin and jerked him left and right. "Stop lookin away and answer. The question."

Charles wrest his face out of the grip. He didn't know he even looked elsewhere while thinking. "Er, which question? You asked a bunch."

He swung again, though this time to the cheek. So much for leaving his "pretty boy" face alone. Charles clenched his eyes, seething from the stinging bruise. He shot a glare at his interrogator in return, but it promptly dropped when the knife went directly level to it.

"Whoa- hey now, keep pointy stuff away from people's eyes. Kindergarten rule number 5. I-I think."

"Are you _trying_ to get your eye gouged out?"

Charles cringed at that. Ohh, that would be SO sucky. He wouldn't be able to fly for a while if he got half blinded. Wouldn't be able to participate in the triple threat anymore. Keep a watchful eye on Henry.  
  
What was something harmless he could say? Slice asked him earlier about Galeforce, insinuating that his specialization in the toppats was old news.  
"You.. probably already know this but uh, since we're currently under Galeforce, and he's now considered a specialist for the toppat clan, we mainly go on missions about that. Um, bout you guys."

"Tell me about them."

"..." Hm. This one was tougher to get out of. It was hard to tell if them knowing the details about their recent missions would be compromising to their efforts overall. And if it's not clearcut, the general rule of thumb is to keep quiet. So he did.

"..I said, tell me about them." Skeev warningly poked his arm after looking at his phone briefly. Charles merely stared back.

"Tell." He slowly pushed the knife into his other forearm. The one that was broken and set. "Me." It steadily went in deeper, but Charles managed to keep his shouts to a grunt. "About." He made a strangled noise in his throat, lips bitten bloody. "Them." He gasped when he felt the knife graze bone, a little bit of nausea passing over him at that.  
There were several drops of inevitable tears, but other than that, he didn't blurt anything out.

Skeev almost looked impressed. "Can't keep quiet forever."

"..."

"Fine. We can take things up a notch if that's what you want."

"..I-I ah, don't want that actually, but--"  
Skeev hit Charles _directly_ on his fractured ribs with the butt end of the knife handle. Charles had a full body tingle and yelled. " _Shit!!_ Uugn- christ!" He coughed, sparsely panting in tight gasps. It must've cracked further, because he could hardly do half an inhale.  
"M-my.. my sides, holy hell-! Wha-what'd you have to... t-to go and do that for?" And how did he even know his ribs were already injured?? He only told the leaders!

Skeev stuck his knife onto his chair momentarily, and stood up over Charles. Firmly grabbing Charles' throat, he held him back while his other hand formed into a fist.  
"Every toppat meeting you've had since becoming an agent. Tell me, now."

"....."

"This is going to be _very_ unpleasant."

"E-everything has been kinda un.. unpleasant so far." Charles grimaced, his ribs radiating in newfound pain and soreness. It was getting harder to breathe.

Skeev waited a few seconds, then growled. His fist punched Charles in the same spot again, but this time it stayed on, digging in and grinding against the bones with his knuckles as much as possible.  
Bright flashes of light scattered across Charles' vision briefly, before he screamed again. But he couldn't scream without causing so much more pain; lungs constricting at the hot lightning piercing his ribs every time he tried to. The hand around his throat tightened more as time passed by, the attack never faltering, and he desperately flailed against the restraints to escape, starting to burn for air. It was like an endless cycle, leaving Charles sobbing and gasping to an almost hyperventilating extent at the end, worsened with what hiccups interrupted him throughout it all.

At last, Charles stopped getting choked, and he shakily heaved through gritted teeth once Skeev finally stopped giving his now _definitely_ broken ribs a goddamn noogie.

Skeev scowled, taking his knife back in hand and pointing it back at the ribs.  
"You're a stubborn bitch I'll give you that much. But I'm getting real impatient." He nudged it sharply against the abused chest. "Now answer my question, or I'll cut into your side and take out your damn ribs myself."

Charles weakly blinked away the tears, dripping down his chin now almost as constantly as the splattering plit-plat of the blood from his arms on the ground. "You.. c-cut me... I'll ble.. bleed out." Skeev narrowed his eyes.

"I'll... die." Charles closed his eyes, his shaken gut twisting.  
He started out relatively optimistic for a rescue, but time was starting to bend for him. He honestly couldn't tell if the dirty attack on his ribs lasted for one minute, five, or twenty.. "I.. I really don't want that. I d-don't.. and I don't think you wa..." He lost his breath somewhere, and struggled to pick it back up. "...want it, either."  
He was starting to get a little dizzy, though he didn't know if it was because of the lack of oxygen, or from bloodloss.

The knife pulled away from the ribs. "Oh, I want it. Just not now. Not till you tell me every little morsel of intel we can use, starting with your toppat missions. Spill."

Skeev sat down again, resting. Charles' hands trembled, fingers aching from gripping the chair so intensely. The weeping wouldn't stop, his ribs still ringing out pangs of pain he just barely managed to not whimper at.  
  
"...okay."

"Hm?"

"..Okay, listen.. listen..." Charles' voice was a bit slurred, head lowered and swaying. For whatever reason, that annoyed Skeev, so he grasped his hair and yanked it up. He whined, "Owww-"

"What. What is it."

"See.." His lids were growing heavy. Fainting might actually be a good idea right now. But only actual fainting; if he faked it, he'd probably feel himself get beat around some more.  
"...I think, that you're taking your personal issues out on me.. trying to prove yourself to the clan. Now, I'm no therapist, but-"

Charles twitched at the sudden roar, bracing himself for a hit to the face or something. Maybe even the same rib treatment. Rather, he got a stab into his left thigh. He jolted and groaned at the new pain, though it didn't go terribly deep. Skeev tried dragging the blade down toward his knee, but it couldn't go all that far. Then, he did something that woke Charles _all_ the way fuck up.

He unbuckled and took out Charles' belt, tossing it to the ground.

"Wha.."

Deft fingers hurriedly opened his buttons, zipper, and began tugging down at the pockets.

"No.. n-no no no, what're you doing??" Charles shook his head despite the waves of pounding ache in his temples from screaming earlier, his voice starting to wobble. He could endure a lot, but not whatever this might be. "Stop. Stop that."

In a final yank, his pants got pulled out from under him, lowered only down to his knees.

"You can't. No, come on, what w--nono, please don't-!" Charles couldn't breathe too hard, but he almost overcame the strain to protest some more. Desperate, he tried violently thrashing out of the chair, but it was bolted to the ground. His arms were weakening, not even able to try and rip out the restraints.  
He kicked out with his legs since his feet weren't tied down or anything, but Skeev stopped them easily, holding onto the calves.

There was a lengthy pause of silence, Charles' shuddery breaths taking most of the space. Skeev lowered the legs, still holding his knife. He looked slightly amused.

"..what, did you think I was going to do?"

Charles didn't answer, still rigid from shock. Skeev chuckled.

"Y'know, I'm messed up. But I'm not that sick." He trailed the knife's edge down the wounded thigh, and Charles' legs shook harder. "..I got rid of the pants, cause the fabric was getting in the way. It's a bit tough."

Charles blinked. Several times.  
Then he heaved a stricken sigh, tremendously relieved. Heavens, he didn't think he'd be able to handle it if Skeev actually went that far. Said toppat laughed harder.

"What, you think I'd waste time here to fu-" Skeev stopped, apparently having heard something from outside the halls.  
The knob jiggled.

  
  
  
***

  
  
  
Before anybody could do or say anything, the door busted open in a slamming kick.

"Hands up you sunuva bitch." Charles could've cried at the sight of Ellie, two guns equipped and pointed toward Skeev.

"Never doubted you." He whispered, crookedly smiling.  
Her eyes widened slightly at Charles, rapidly flitting over all of his injuries, but once they reached his legs they stopped.

Silently, she walked over to Skeev, seamlessly knocking his knife out the way with her gun handle in an ultimate bitch slap. Holstering one pistol solely to suckerpunch him in the face, Skeev crumpled down to the ground with a yelp, and she knelt on him, gun firmly on his head.  
She kicked the knife far away and hurriedly patted him down for other weapons. Finding none, she finally spoke to Charles.

"What. The fuck. Did he do." Charles startled at her vehement look.

"H-hey, I'm alive right?"

"Don't, don't you fucking say that Charles. What did he _do_."

"I can give you a report later, right now we really should get-"

"Then just tell me--" Ellie cocked the gun harder against Skeev's skull, ignoring his muffled pleas and bargaining. "--do I kill this little shit now or not?"

"He.. okay, I know this looks b-"

"You're damn right it looks awful! You.. your pants are shoved down and I see bruises on your neck! What am I supposed to think?!"

"Oh Ellie- I'm sorry--"

"The FUCK are you _apologizing_ for!?"

"Sor- I mean uh, listen! He didn't do what you're thinking, okay? He roughed me up, but the pants are down because he wanted to stab my thighs... which.. alright, that's still pretty bad. But.." He looked down at the toppat, who was shaking down to his boots.  
"...Look, I wouldn't mind if he was dead, but we gotta do this the right way. I'll have him get persecuted for torture on top of everything.. we shouldn't take it into our own hands and kill him here, kay?"

Ellie's brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah.. we're here to arrest them, first and foremost."

"And you're not.. trying to lie about-"

"Ellie, you've got a gun to his face, I'm not about to lie for him on anything."

She grimaced, a little torn.  
But she quickly made up her mind, and knocked Skeev out with a swift swing from the butt of her gun. Then she walked over to the blinking red camera, knocked it down, and stomped on it so hard it nearly split in two.  
Taking out a tool from her belt, she--hot damn, a laser cutter?--carefully freed Charles from the arm restraints. He slowly stood up, staggering to a rocky balance. Ellie picked up his belt for him, and he redressed himself with some aid.

They hugged.

"Christ Charles." Ellie tried to be as gentle with the embrace as possible. "You look.."

"Yeah. He got me good. But, I'm okay."

"Like hell."

"No, really! I.. I can walk."

They both departed. "Okay.. good. Follow me then. I can sneak you up around halfway, but then we'll need to get into the vents. Can you army crawl?"

Charles delicately held his ribs, sucking a breath in. "Mmm, I dunno."

"Alright. Ok."

"I can try."

"For now, let's.. we can get to the vents and hide there."

"Where's uh.. where's Henry?" He looked around, as if he'd just magically appear behind her. "How is he?" Ellie _almost_ rolled her eyes. What a question to hear from someone who looked about half drenched in koolaid.

"He's up outside providing backup. General wouldn't let him come cause, well.. let's just say... your interrogator? Dead on sight."

Charles chuckled, then flinched. "Ooh- ok, no laughing. But.. yeah. Probably for the best then."

The two made their way to the stairs Ellie came out of, beginning the arduous climb up. "We have a couple soldiers in the base already, in case things go tits up."

"Hey." Charles grabbed her hand, and they minutely paused on the steps. "Thanks. For saving me. Just.. the whole rescue from everybody."

She smiled. "What, you'd think we'd just leave you?"

"Naw. But, y'know. It was getting kinda dicey in there.. heh."

"I'll scold you for making puns while you are clearly traumatized _later._ " Ellie called for Henry. "Hey Henry, you there? We should be clear still, but just in case, can you check the cams above us?"

"..."

"..uh, Henry?" Ellie tapped on her mic. "Helloo? Come in? What on.."  
Then, Ellie froze.  
  


She forgot to mute herself.

She forgot to _fucking_ mute herself.  
  


"Henry, stop. Listen to me. Listen! Henry--ANSWER ME." Ellie stomped a foot. "Crap!!"

"Wh-what is it? Is something wrong? Is he alright??"

Ellie moved to grab Charles by the arm, but there really wasn't a spot where he wasn't wounded there. Eventually, she found a spot on the elbow, and pulled as they both sprinted up the stairs.

"I think he's lost it."

"Huh??"

"We need to move."

The whole time they went up the stairs, Ellie kept trying to contact Henry. But either he took off his mic, or went ballistically deaf, because she received no response whatsoever.  
And though the first option was more practical, she was betting her money on it being the latter.

  
  
\---

  
  
"...uhh, sir?" Another standard employee at another CCC unit, called for his director, closer to the northern border.  
They came.

"What is it?"

"We're.. getting a weird disturbance in the timeline gyre meter. But, it's not a chaos reading."

"Well what is it then?"

"I'm.. not sure?? Little intense though."

The director peered over at the computer. "Hmm.. this one has the same signature our other branch reported a few weeks ago. But, a little stronger now? Peculiar." They tapped their chin. "And it's coming from an old branch of ours."

"Old?"

"It don't happen too often, but sometimes we have to contain chaos in one of our bases."

"Woah. What happened?"

"Dunno. Think it had something to do with a poodle." They sighed. "...for now, dismiss it. It's not too high. But I'll make a report of it for the higher ups."

"Yes sir."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't rlly like using other bg characters a lot but hbgbhbhh hope it turned out ok
> 
> ..dunno if this makes me a sick bastard but, i had fun writing this :s i'm actually pretty happy with this chapter, even if it might be considered a bit much


	15. breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> well this took forever didn't it  
> sorry all, i got a little distracted by another fic + school lmo
> 
> hope you enjoy!

It took a while, but Reginald finally wrapped the meeting up.  
Throughout it, he had sent people off to their respective orders or departments, trying to prepare the remaining base for an all out battle as soon as possible, just in case.

All he needed was for the General to give up the files, but he didn't trust the army to _not_ attack as soon as their hostage was secured. After all, why would they be honorable and keep their word to leave once the main bargaining chip holding them in place was given?  
  
So instead, he decided to tell roughly half the clan to pack it up in the cars and leave.  
Not directly to their secret rocket site of course, just.. away. Enough for them to lose any tracking helicopters and such, so that if things became compromised here, they could eventually round back to the temporary base to continue their work, or break them out jail.  
  
RHM went out to let the General know, and with a few verbal threats to harm the hostage, they drove on out without much trouble, just as Reginald suspected.  
Of course, the vehicles had to be searched by some soldiers first, to make sure they weren't stowing Charles away someplace else for whatever reason. But for the most part, all of Reginald's precautions were coming into place.  
  
The hope that the army would leave after an exchange without a fight was still the "default" assumption here, but he wasn't going to be taking any chances, nor abandon ship just yet.

Bizarrely, he'd gotten a call mid-meeting from Skeev, complaining how Slice was apparently roughing up the hostage too much. When he heard that Slice was about to use a knife, he called him up to his office immediately.  
It was puzzling--Slice was never one to jump the gun without any explicit orders from him.. but he supposed it was the tense situation that was cracking him. It certainly wouldn't be far from the truth to say they were cornered _bad_ right now, even with the pilot.

He entered the office where Slice had been waiting for almost half an hour, finally greeting him.

"Chief!" Slice perked up. "I heard that I was called in for a disciplinary issue, but- I promise, it wasn't me who hid the rubber duckies in your second hat."

Reginald, mouth still hanging open from the beginnings of a "hello", stared. He closed his mouth, then immediately opened it again.

"..Rubber.. duckies..."

Slice nodded.

Reginald slowly took off his first top hat, indeed finding two squeaky toys sitting on the hat beneath, bright and yellow.

"...I didn't. Call you up for that."

"Oh! Oh.." Slice perused a hanging portrait of the chief nearby.

This whole time.. he'd been feeling the weight of two-- "Who in the _blazes_ did this? Who WOULD for that matter- and WHY??"

"You'll have to pardon the newer recruits under me sir. I told them not to do it."

Copperbottom pinched the bridge of his nose tightly, flicking the ducks away in a squeak. He put his second hat back on. "I am going to pretend that didn't just happen. Now, Slice, you're here because I've received a report that you have been threatening to cut the hostage up without any sayso by me."

Slice's eyes widened, gears in his head slowly putting it together. Reginald went on,  
"Now, RHM did say to interrogate him, but standard protocol is to merely question the hostage unless I say otherwise. See, I was actually thinking of using some makeup to make the pilot look in worse shape to try and move the Gen-"

Slice hopped to his feet, chair screeching. "That is an outright lie chief. I would never harm a hostage unwarranted."

"That's what I thought too, but apparently-"

"Apologies sir, but I have to ask.. _who_ told you this?"

He hummed. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

No hesitation. "Skeev."

Reginald rose a brow. "Oh, well.. you're correct."

"Dammit.." Slice rubbed his temples. "Sir, I assure you, I had no ill intentions to the hostage. I only asked a few preliminary checks. In fact, it was _him_ who wanted to use a knife."

RHM walked into the office just then. "Er, Reg?"

"Right Hand Man? Is something wrong?"

"We've gotten some reports of.. of... why are there two rubber duckies in--"

"Get on with it!"

He coughed. "Our folks up on the cams said there was something goin on outside. A small skirmish in one of the army bases?"

"That's fine to hear and all, but why exactly should this concern me?"

"Well, it's not one of the far off bases. It looks like it's hidden right outside the warehouse, and--"

A large crash jolted all three of them, coming from down the halls. "Now what in the world was that?!" Another audible clash.

RHM poked his head out the door just in time to see one toppat member fly past and slam into the wall, stars spinning around their hat.

"I could be wrong but.. pretty sure it's an attack, by the looks of it."

"What!" Reginald sputtered. "Wh-why would they do that now?! It's completely irrational!"

Slice tapped him on the shoulder. "If I may chief, I suggest we go down to where the hostage is?"

"And why should we do that instead of hightailing it out of here on our jeep?"

"Well I assume the attack is coming in from the garage entrance, which is where all our cars are. And, it couldn't hurt to have the hostage as a last line of defense." Slice rubbed his arm. "I.. also have reason to believe Skeev might've done something, irrational as well."

A series of gunshots were fired from the hall, prompting RHM to grab Reginald's wrist and speedily pull him out the office, down to the elevator. Slice followed closely behind.  
"I don't care what we do, long as we do it _now._ Call Curtis to have everyone switch on offense. Send our first line to the top."

Reginald did so as they entered the elevator, clicking to go the very bottom. But right as the doors were about to close, Reginald spotted something between the opening and froze, eyes widely curious.  
The gap closed and the elevator was descending now, but the image struck him.

"What is it Regi?"

His brow knitted, contemplating. "I.. I believe we just narrowly avoided the attacker outside.."

"The? As in, there's only one person attackin us?" Reginald nodded. There was positively nobody else behind him, which isn't how the army (or any sane general) would play out an outright raid. "Then what're we fleeing for? Lemme handle him."

Reginald shook his head. "Perhaps it'd be best to play this safe. The person outside.. was Henry."

A huff. "That Stickmin guy? Well, now I really want to fight 'im. He's the one who keeps messing up our plans."

"We, we can deal with him later. For now we'll check on the hostage, keep him close."

The chief assumed his Right Hand Man would be able to handle the former thief himself, but something about the way he had stared at them was.. unnerving, almost. He only saw Henry turn to the elevators for half a second, but that was enough to get the intensity through.  
Reginald obviously expected him to be pissed off; that was the whole point in kidnapping his lover, and he was glad Henry seemed to have suffered from it.  
However, it didn't even really look like he was here to find the hostage. It looked like..

..he was looking for him. For Reginald. And that lit up alarms in his head.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Slice piped up. Another loud crash echoed from the receding floors above them. "Perfectly--" Was that the sound of _glass_ shattering? "--fine."

  
  
\---

  
  
Ellie's arm was beginning to feel the drag behind her, as Charles took longer and longer to climb up the stairs at her pace. She tried slowing down a bit, but they eventually had to come to a full stop. Seven floors up.

"Come on Charles, we're nearly there." Ellie herself was panting pretty hard, so she couldn't imagine how winded Charles might be.  
  
To her surprise though, he wasn't heaving as much. As she crouched down closer to where he knelt on the stairs, and listened to his tightly spaced gasps, she got a sinking suspicion on why.  
With a brief warning, she undid a couple buttons on his uniform, enough to see intense bruises plastered all across his sides, speckled brown and yellow, but mostly red.

"Fuck Charles, why didn't you tell me your ribs were broken?" His hand cupped around the most sensitive area--where Skeev had jabbed at repeatedly--, one delicate thread away from touching it. His breaths came in all the more shallow and fast. "I can carry you."

Charles held up a hand. "..jus... wait." She did, rubbing his back (since apparently that was one of the only places where he wasn't injured).  
  
After the adrenaline rush of freedom and escape had bled off, Charles' sore body hit him like a goddamn gas tank truck around their fifth floor up. He could handle the pain in his limbs, throat, face, but his whole upper torso felt like it was on fire, inside out; imaginary smoke flooding his body and suffocating him, especially stifling around his upper chest.  
Which wasn't ideal, since that was where his lungs were located. Typically needed those for stair sprints.

Ellie had given up trying to contact Henry a few floors ago, having paused just once to rip off her sleeves and wrap them around Charles' forearms. It helped a bit with the bleeding, but he knew there wasn't much she could really do about broken ribs here, so he figured he could simply let her know after they got to the vents.  
Turns out he overestimated his resilience.

"I-I'm.." It felt like he was drowning, unable to take the deep, satisfying intakes of oxygen like he wanted to, needed to. Dizzy.. dizzier...

"Screw it, I'm gonna carry you. Come on." She lifted Charles into her arms as carefully as she could, holding him up so that he was almost in a reclined seated position. "I dunno if you heard earlier, but I also tried to comm the General."  
With a grunt, she got back into rhythm and resumed their climb, trying to not jerk Charles up and down too much.  
"Still nothing."

"That's.. not good."

"Nope." Ellie sweated with the effort; not like Charles was _incredibly_ heavy compared to her weights, though it definitely would've been easier had she used the fireman's carry instead. But with how bad his ribs looked, she wasn't going to risk any further pressure to his torso.  
"If we reach the cafeteria and I still hear nothing back from them.. I'm gonna have to send the signal for all the hidden soldiers to come out."

"Wha- to do what?"

Ellie attempted a shrug. "Stir shit up."

He wheezed a short pant, assumedly laughter. "Why??"

"General mainly put em there because he assumed we'd have to break you out eventually. To help cover your escape, they'd draw most of the attention."

"Are we.. busting out now? Or is this still stealth." It sure felt like a break, what with them loudly careening up the stairs.

"With Henry gone AWOL, I'm betting bust." She checked the floor number, huffing. "One more floor."

"Wait.. what's goin on over there?" Ellie took a break and indulged Charles, peering into the windows of the double doors leading out to an occupied floor.  
Seemed like everybody was bustling about, readying the transported weapons from earlier. A good chunk of people, interestingly, were on some thick computers attached to the walls, likely for the base's system weapons outside.

"..welp, it sure looks like they're getting ready to fight."

"So.. Henry's really inside here now then? Alone??"

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't." Ellie sped back up to a trot, finishing up their (hopefully) last flight of stairs. After all of _today,_ she was never going to touch the stair machine in the gym ever _again_.

"But that's.." Ellie gently set him down, handing him one of her guns. "-he can't take them all on his own!"

"I'm sure the General will send in reinforcements after him. And besides.." Ellie opened the cafeteria doors. "..he can get real lucky sometimes."

Them? Not so much apparently, as there was a whole crowd of toppats lying in wait, pushed back to the cafeteria after somebody called to retreat from the upper levels.  
Every single one turned to Ellie and Charles.  
Ellie stifled a groan.

"...right fellas, I can explain."

Gunfire.

  
  
\---

  
...

_"Hands up you sunuva bitch."_

It took an agonizing amount of time till Ellie was finally able to bypass the crowded floors, but once she did, she hurtled down to the basement and kicked in the first door she felt like (and that had light coming out from the bottom).  
Henry held his breath, pressing onto his earpiece so hard it might as well have gone in his head.

 _"Never doubted_ _you_."  
Oh _fuck_ that was Charles. He.. he sounded so weak, voice far too faint for comfort, and more tired than he's ever heard him. Henry gulped, fingers tapping rapidfire on the desk. The fact that he couldn't see anything and had to rely solely on sound alone was killing him. He needed a status report of Charles _yesterday._

There were sounds of a rough scuffle, an unfamiliar male voice yelping and floundering out whatever apologies to empty air, then Ellie.

 _"What. The fuck. Did he do."  
  
_ Henry's stomach dropped--she was _PISSED_. A layer of barely concealed trembling beneath nothing but wrath, virtually one atom away from combusting. Did Charles look that bad? Was he on the goddamn brink of death?!  
Calm, calm, calm-

 _"H-hey, I'm alive right?"_ Oh you better be.

_"Don't, don't you fucking say that Charles. What did he DO."_

_"I can give you a report later, right now we really should get-"_

_"Then just tell me--"_ He heard a gun load, and he was too over his head worrying about _what in the fuck happened to Charles_ to warn Ellie not to compromise their location with a shot.   
_"--do I kill this little shit now or not?"_

_"He.. okay, I know this looks b-"_

Charles' voice has been slowly building up in strength throughout the whole encounter, and that gave Henry some semblance of repose, until:

 _"You're damn right it looks awful! You.. your pants are shoved down--"_ Henry stood up. _"--and I see bruises on your neck! What am I supposed to think?!"_

_.  
.  
._

Nothing.

Nothing but the thumping of his heart, resounding in pulsing echoes throughout his chest, arms, face, could be felt.  
He couldn't hear Charles' soft response for the life of him, strained to, wanted to, but.. oh...

Ohhh, that was funny.

Real _fucking_ funny.

His lips curled up involuntarily, and he immediately felt horrible for it right after. Didn't even know why he had felt like laughing, and he tried to stuff his queries before he could feel too much like shit, to no avail.  
  
Could it be because he had literally just gotten together with his boyfriend?  
Could it be because life simply refused to ever give him a break, even after the deity's leave??  
Could it be because _everything was permanent now, permanent and forever???_

It could be none, any, all of those really, but most of all, it was probably because he _loved_ Charles. Coolly sweet and laidback Charles, who ought to never be interrogated, harmed, touched by dirty, grabby hands or--

Static. White noise, pretty much everywhere. In his ears, nails, eyes, tongue, his entire head.  
  
His fists burned. Maybe he punched something. Maybe they were just clenched too tightly.  
Everything became hazy, hazier, much too hazy for it to be considered normal.

It had first taken a nonexistent second of shock (they wouldn't do that), a nonexistent second of disbelief (they wouldn't _dare_ ), and another nonexistent second of _rage (they're all already dead),_ for him to realize that--no seconds were passing by at all.

Everything froze... wait.. no, rather it was like everything slowed down, hardly above a total freeze. Not unlike the times Henry had a limited timeframe to make a choice during all that multiverse bull, or when Henry saw Charles get shot in two missions, not too very long ago at all.

Thrumming, rushing, he felt his blood, _felt it.  
_ Unseeing- might as well have closed his eyes, but he didn't quite need them at the moment, his body automatically equipping his bag and guns without thinking.

Inside, outside, cold, overhanging branches and crunchy snow, getting in his way.  
Other tents nearby flapped open.

"Henry?" The General. "Now where do you think you're goin." In his way.

And then it began.

A whisper, flickering visions, the phantoms of his past powers perhaps--all of it.  
Closed eyes or not, faintly against the white ground or not; through his rapid blinks, he could see...  
  


> Ignore

_\--continue walking--grabs arm--confrontation--no no time--_

> Lie

_\--have to go--ellie needs backup--verification--caught--no no time--_

> Knock out

_\--walk up--point--gun--run--_

  
His head both ached and felt lightweight as his mind automatically latched onto the first three possible options for him to try out, as well as little bits and snippets of each immediate outcome. It was blurry, it was fast, it was _confusing_ as all heck, but he heeded and went with the third option, because he was going to make some fuckers _hurt,_ and he was going to do it NOW.

Turning, he gestured grimly to a tree behind the General. Once he looked, Henry swung the butt end of his gun to his upper neck. He crumpled down. Some soldiers nearby flew to tend to Galeforce, shout out, level their weapons at him.  
He didn't care. Couldn't.

Henry was running, struggling to keep his mind to close in on one thing only.

Charles was safer with Ellie, but he also wasn't free yet and he _needed_ to be there for him, hold him, care for him, _needed_ to KILL every toppat inside, _needed_ to sort out exactly what the FUCK, the actual somersaulting FUCK, was going on.

By the time he reached the warehouse front though, his steaming head somewhat cooled with the worsening winds, and he figured he got the gist of it.  
  
The powers weren't back.  
  
But _this_ was his now.

Instead of any new items, abilities, sardonic narration, he got luck fucking incarnate, seeing shards of the future- hardly, blurrily, but enough.

Enough to choose > Lie, knocking and calling out for a military negotiation. We surrender. Here's the files. Whatever.

The side door opened, and he punched whatever poor sap had been unfortunate enough to dare answer him so hard, he felt more than one thing crack.

Inside, everything was still in an annoying haze, but he could tell everyone was stirring into alarm. He should've used his guns, really, but he went with > Rumble before the results could even finish playing out before his eyelids.

Two toppats rushed him from the front, another behind. Sidestepping, he grabbed one by the hair, and yanked his head down whilst ramming his knee up. Now limp, the body was thrown against the other two stunned toppats, and--

Henry felt a sting on his upper right arm, like a flu shot done wrong.

He looked up to where that little blob of a stick was hiding among the towering crates, thin smoke wavering from what he presumed to be its trembling hand.

In a snarl, he sprinted towards the source and ignored any fired bullets, whether they hit or missed.  
Reaching him, and still alive, Henry threw him off the wooden mountain. Crazed almost, he then leapt off to land on the toppat's gut with both feet, the scene shocking all other toppats in the area to a still.  
He would've done more, but then he spotted something. Something that sharpened his sight just a little.

Right Hand Man.  
Just as fast, he withdrew into a room.

He tried to move closer, but there were still three more toppats to deal with. Growing impatient, and feeling his thirst for revenge switch gears, he finally took out his guns and fired back.  
Three bullets soundly met their match, and Henry looked around briefly for any stragglers.  
He ran towards the room he saw RHM poke out of, but found it empty. Stalking the rest of the now empty hall, he turned the corner and briefly caught Reginald's face behind closing elevator doors.

His vision finally cleared.

In a mind as scrambled and out of focus as his, he grasped onto that, and felt all his fury reconcentrate now to one target.  
  
The chief was the clan's leader. He had to have authorized this _vile_ fucking act, and he was going to make sure Reginald would never see the light of day again for it. The conviction had bubbling magma simmering beneath his skin, sealing the deal.

He was about to take the other elevator, when the stairway doors bust open to a couple more toppats ("hey you!), reinforcement.  
One look at Henry very nearly made some double back.  
  


> Go in elevator anyway

_\--too long--shot--charles---_

> Kill them

_\--make them suffer--_

> Kill them

_\--quickly--_

  
Leveling a glare at the ones who still stood their ground, he took bold strides towards them, startling and confusing some.  
Before they could start gunning him down, Henry whipped his pistol out at the forefront toppat, damn near embedding it into their head, then shot two others right behind him consecutively before the rest could react. He dodged the ensuing bullets to the left in a tumble, continuously shooting at them until they retreated back behind the doors.

He also may have been making somewhat animalistic noises the entire time, who knows.

Kicking the doors right back open, he aimed and practically peppered the whole stairway so that half fled further down, and the other half slumped over.

Henry was tempted to go even further, but he opted to return back to the elevator. Once he was inside, pressing "21", he rested his forehead against the shiny wall as a breather.

He wiped his eyes.

His entire body felt numb, despite him having.. two, three- five gun grazes, and two buried ones in his legs. He looked up from his body, the wobbly reflection of his face providing ample explanation alone for why a few toppats turned around at the sight of him.

Henry looked close to deranged, a constant flame sputtering in his eyes, one that wouldn't get extinguished until the chief dies. Or the torturer dies. Everybody.  
  
And, he knew the last time he tried to do something like this, he ended up dead himself. In all honesty, he probably will again. But..

Allowing himself a few seconds of an emotion other than fury, he sank down to his knees, head still heavy against the wall.  
  


..he loved him.   
Charles, with all his quirks, flaws, lovably idiotic puns and all, _all_ of him. He really did.  
So there was _no_ way in hell, he was going to let anybody who hurt him keep the privilege of life for much longer.

  
The elevator dinged, and he stood to walk out.

The Right Hand Man.  
In his way.

  
  
\---

  
  
There was a split second, after Ellie had jokingly tried to stall, where it actually looked like the toppats were going to hear her out.

It was then within said split second, that she proceeded to explain exactly _shit_ , and grabbed Charles to dive on over behind the tables.  
Bullets bounced wildly off the metal legs, skittering across the floor around her, and she hoped Charles knew that she was awful sorry for having to basically toss him unto the ground like a ragdoll. He had a hard grimace on, but was still moving in an effort to fire back, so she took that as a ok sign.  
With a swift kick, she knocked a long table down to its side to use as cover.

They were cornered, which is better than being surrounded on all sides, but now they were also kind of stuck. The only way out was to go back to the stairway, some feet away, but whenever Ellie tried to reach for it, rounds of raining bullets would stop her.  
Maybe they could break for it during their reload, but she wasn't sure how well Charles could sprint right now.

She glanced at him, leaning heavily against the table bottom. He made a few shots every now and then, but he was looking worse by the minute.

In the middle of her reloading, one ballsy toppat tried running over to their barricade. Startled, she flung him away with her force, propelling him straight into a crowd like a bowling ball that's struck ten.  
Ellie's unique ability was useful to be sure, but she didn't use it all too often. She could handle one item at a time, big or small, but it tore her brain apart to focus on _multiple_ squirming objects simultaneously.

Soon as there was a few seconds of pause, she hurriedly turned on her mic and gave the signal for all the hidden soldiers to come out and "hurry the fuck up to the cafeteria".  
All they needed to do was wait for the backup, hold out till then.

But of course--of _course--_ not even a full minute later, Charles just HAD to see a certain somebody blur past the stairway doors' window, and he almost gasped.

"Did you-" Ellie looked to the window, hunkered down, and saw a glimpse of orange hair. "-that was Henry!"

"Huh? No it wasn't."

"It was, it-it.." Charles holstered his gun and painfully shambled onto his feet, crouched.

"Charles." Ellie's eyes flicked left and right, between Charles' setting expression, and the encroaching toppat line. His face said _he could be in trouble,_ and Ellie did her dang best to stare right back _WE'RE in trouble right now,_ but nothing would get through to him.  
"Pretty sure Henry isn't ginger. We can wait it out, just a couple more minutes-"

Charles bolted to the door. Ellie's hands hurled up, and she catapulted the entire table forward to a good portion of the group, then straining as she concentrated on roughly _fifteen_ remaining toppats, and cast them violently into the cafeteria walls behind.

He made it, and Ellie staggered to her elbows as she reeled in her spazzing brain, head too sapped of energy for her to direct any to her body.

The cafeteria turned nearly silent upon her abrupt attack, everyone struggling to recover. A few toppats began getting back up again, which wasn't good, since Ellie was still a pile of jello on the floor.  
Thankfully, before anyone could try getting at her, the main doors exploded into splinters, a handful of soldiers and some agents (one who apparently had a thing for bombs) speeding in.

Ellie groaned. _Now_ they come in.

It didn't take them much effort to turn the tide and keep all the disorientated toppats in check. Another soldier came to her aid, but she swatted it away and dragged herself to the stairs Charles disappeared off to. Her muscles lightly trembled as she shoved at the doors to open, and looked up.

God. Damn. Stairs.

  
  
\---

  
  
Blood isn't really a new thing to Reginald. In an elite and worldwide criminal organization, even if their main specialty is theft, things are always bound to get rough and dirty on the other side of the law.

So, he wasn't necessarily flabbergasted at the amount of blood in the interrogation room Slice led them into.  
But he was a little impressed.

"Good go-" Slice covered his mouth. The bolted chair, especially the arms of it, were simply _soaked_ through with blood. A crimson pool laid directly beneath, with some splatters sprinkled elsewhere on the ground, nearest wall, and the shoved off table.

"For pete's sake--I knew I should've booted him before." Reginald bemoaned, covering his face. "This is simply disgraceful! Not to mention unhinged."

RHM stepped over the puddles and rolled the unconscious Skeev over, slapping his cheeks a few times. "Well.. looks like the hostage's escaped."

Reginald took a deep breath in, which he regretted soon after due to the sheer amount of pungent iron in the air. "It appears so, yes. "

"I'll collect the current reports from everyone and sum it up for you." RHM walked out the door, calling. Slice crept over to Skeev, in disbelief.

"I.. I knew he was a little over the top at times but..."

Reginald sighed. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have just grouped you all off together."

"No sir, if anything this is my fault." He couldn't help look back at the mess. "This... this isn't going to look good chief."

"I know."

"I mean, that is quite a lot of bloo-"

"I _know."_ Reginald grunted, massaging his temples. "At least the fool didn't kill the damn pilot but.. oh, we've really got to get him back under our custody. If the government finds him, having been tortured no less..." He shook his head.

"Oi Reg." RHM returned. "Our folks on security say that our first line of offense are in a stalemate on the cafeteria level."

"What? But it's just one man!"

"Not Henry- the hostage and an agent. They're holed up there now."

"Really? Well then, perfect!" Reginald walked briskly back to the hall, toward the elevators. "Tell them to not wound the hostage any further. We'll have to get up there and-"

RHM nabbed Reginald's wrist, stopping him a centimeter away from the button. "Look."  
They both stared up to the elevator floor dial, the arrow slowly moving closer and closer to 21.

"Someone's using the lift."

"Do you think..?"

"It's got to be. Everybody else is stationed--go."

"H-huh?"

"Go, go. I'll hold him off. You get to the caf and focus on getting back the pilot."

"I.." The seventeenth floor.. eighteenth.. "See you soon." Reginald quickly pressed their foreheads together for a savory second, then booked it to the stairs. RHM took a few steps back, readying his gun.  
He heard some voices come up from the room behind, assuming Skeev had finally come to.

The elevators opened.  
  
Stickmin.

Both immediately dropped and rolled, neither wanting to get shot straight off the bat.

RHM entered a stray empty room nearby, knocking the table over. The door swung open, and RHM got a good shot in the shoulder, but to his surprise, Henry didn't pause at it and ran towards him ever faster. Well.  
  
He kicked the table at his legs. Henry hopped over it, then with a harsh clatter, knocked RHM's gun away with his. Both weapons flew and slid away, leaving the two unarmed.

"Now kid, take it easy." RHM blocked a straight punch, and shoved him back toward the door. "We've still got your lil boyfriend detained, so don't try anything stupid."  
  
Henry's glare made way for a little bewilderment, at which RHM then charged at him and rammed into his stomach with a shoulder, knocking him back out to the hall. He tried to get back to the guns, but Henry gripped his legs, swiveling to kick his knees in to a fold.

RHM landed hard in a grunt and scrambled round to wrestle with Henry. They pushed back and fro, arms shaking as RHM slowly, slowly won him out.  
"Seriously, nothing'll happen to him if you just calm down an-"

" _Nothing will happen to him??"_ RHM startled. He had no idea the guy could utter a full sentence, and using that, Henry hooked a _good_ one up his jaw.

"Urng! Fuckin'.." RHM kicked him off after a few tries, then they both trudged into a stand off. RHM had bit a cut into his tongue, and he spit out the blood off to the side.  
He got a little wary upon seeing Henry's mouth, twitching their damndest to not smile incredulously. A peculiar sight.

"You've already done the worst possible thing to him." His eyes flashed, hysterical. RHM gestured to the interrogation room a few doors behind Henry.

"Wasn't me kid. In fact, the person who roughed him up is in there right now."

Henry didn't fall for it, making good effort to not look. "Think him having his pants down and bruised is 'roughed up'?" RHM's brows raised.

"Now hold on right there bud-"

Henry did the very opposite and leapt into action, diving at RHM. He at first gripped unto him like a monkey, using his weight to swing him around as he practically hung off him. Then planting his feet, Henry slammed RHM against a different door, who groused and raised his arms to block.

Instead, Henry smoothly opened the door, toppling RHM inside. As he scrambled back forward, Henry closed it, then kicked the door handle in, locking him inside.

"No!" RHM punched the door, _incredibly_ annoyed that he got trapped in by Stickmin of all people. He kept trying to ram it open, but it was an uphill battle.

Henry turned, eyes immediately locking in on the interrogation room, and made his way over.  
  
One look inside, and he had to hold onto the doorframe to keep from tripping.

"No.." Henry echoed, his already fired up veins now wanting to _erupt.  
_ How the HELL was there so much blood?? Why- how--  
There was one other toppat in the room. The other was dead, throat slit, and he could wager a guess as to which one had tortured Charles.

Once he managed to get over the initial shock, he lunged at Slice, who had been somewhat unmoving this whole time, and lifted him up by the collar.

"Where is he." Henry really, _really_ wanted to waste a bullet on him for having killed the interrogator before he could, the fucking _nerve_.  
But, now that he's gotten a good bit of that bloodlust out through a couple toppats, and his still jumbled up brain had since shoddily narrowed in on one target, he withheld. He wasn't here for him. Wasn't here for RHM.

Slice dropped the knife, both dried and new blood dripping from it. "P-pardon?"

"The chief. Where is he."

"H-he er.." Slice knew he probably shouldn't give it away, but he was also certain he'd die if he didn't say. Plus, he figured Reginald would be at the cafeteria by now, protected by all the other armed toppats.  
...and, while he wouldn't ever say it aloud, he almost _wanted_ the hostage to get free now, mostly so to receive some medical help. Skeev had said some.. awful things. Of things that he would've done had he more time. It was terrible enough for Slice to make his leave a permanent one, to prevent him from harming anyone else once out the clan.

Henry shook him back and forth silly. "He's upstairs! The uh- chief's gone up to find the hostage." However, despite it all, he was still loyal to the clan, and didn't give up any exact locations. "H-he took those stairs, before you came."

Dropping him like a sack of potatoes, Henry dashed to the stairway and sprinted up, three by three.  
He knew Reginald wasn't the fastest runner ever, so he wasn't surprised to start hearing him a few levels above after around five flights of stairs. Henry made sure to make his steps as silent as possible, tip-toed as he started to skip _four_ at a time.

Then, Reginald went completely quiet. Doubling his efforts, Henry finally caught up and made it to where the chief had apparently stopped, looking into a set of doors. Soon as Henry rounded the banister, Reginald startled, skittering back.

"Not you-!" Reginald instantly bounded up the stairs yet again, Henry quickly following after.

This time though, Reginald was _really_ spurred on by adrenaline, while Henry was beginning to feel the ache in all his wounds.  
His seemingly infinite supply of enraged energy felt like it was finally about to run low, all his sore muscles close to giving out..

..but then he thought of Charles, getting bloodied, beaten, handled, kissed--and will you fucking look at that, he was going at full speed again.

Soon after though, Reginald barged through a door and Henry found himself stumbling back out into the cold. The winds have gotten a bit harsher, and distantly he heard commotions of a fight underway, briefly making out a couple tanks charging in from the forest. Looks like the battle's begun.

Copperbottom screeched to a halt, whipping around to face his _relentless_ hunter, shoes a couple inches away from the edge of the roof. As Henry made his way over, he fumbled for his gun, but Henry was faster.  
He fired twice, the sound piercingly clear despite the growing chaos going on around the warehouse now, soldiers clashing with toppats. There were mounted weapons on the roof corners shooting rounds at the army below, but Henry couldn't care to disable them right now.

Two shots.  
One at his gun, knocking it away from his holster and beyond the roof's edge, and another at his hat, which was where his other hidden gun was.

Reginald could only gawk as his two hats and weapons spun on down the building, utterly stupefied. How, in the greatest _fuck_ ever given, did he know he had a spare gun in his bottom hat?!

"N-now hold on!" Reginald backed up as Henry approached, wisps of smoke still flowing from his gun. "If you kill me, the pilot will get killed too."

Henry's hand shot out, fisting Reginald's vest, and he gave him a final push to lean back in the brink of balance. He held him there. "W-woah!! Are you even listening?!"  
Reginald gripped the arm keeping him from falling to his doom (or, a painful injury in the least. The building was no skyscraper, but it was tall enough to kindly suggest death). Henry only glared at him, thinking on how exactly to kill him. There were a lot of options.

Another pair of feet scuffled out the escape door, and Henry whipped his head to the noise.

RHM, after having used the entire table to basically break the door off its hinges, had ran after Henry and finally reached him. He took out the gun he swiped from the other room he had lost it in, and Henry aimed his gun in return, still firmly keeping Reginald in place.

"Right Hand Man!" Reginald arched his neck to see over Henry's shoulder. RHM's grimace deepened.

"Hold it right there Henry."

The three stilled into a standoff of sorts. RHM tried to slowly inch forward, but Henry shook Reginald wildly, making him squeal, and RHM stopped. Even if he did shoot Henry then and there, he wouldn't be close enough to grab Reginald in time.

"We can work something out here. Give you your boy, if you give me mine." Reginald sputtered at the wording, but Henry's eyes merely narrowed. He didn't make any move to respond.

He knew Charles was with Ellie, and that they were both probably safe, but Reginald's threat still gave him some pause. Just about the only thing keeping him from crushing the chief's throat then and there and tossing him overboard.

"H-henry!"  
Right then, a cry so low, so quiet, Henry was _sure_ it was some auditory hallucination or something--but coming up behind RHM, he saw him, in the bloody flesh.

"Oh kid.." RHM looked at him to his side, grim. He looked fairly bad, especially winded after climbing all those stairs in his state.

"Charles."  
Henry didn't say it outloud, just formed it with his lips as all his other senses made way for sight. He looked all over, his hands tightening at every injury he noted. The shredded clothing made his blood boil, but once he got to the bruised neck, he very may as well have _snapped._

Henry twirled his gun back on Reginald, kneading it harshly into the side of his head.  
RHM made a sound of alarm, while Reginald shrieked. "What- he's right there!! Let me g-"

"I killed you."

Reginald's eyes got impossibly larger, jaw slack once again. "Wh.. he fucking talks???"

RHM slowly moved towards them, confirming, "He fucking talks."

Henry's eyes, too intense, looked just about ready to burst into flames.  
"I killed you before. Threw you out into space.. took you down in your own airship.. I've killed your right hand man over, and over again too."  
Reginald's stare hardened, making effort to shuffle his feet away from the edge.

"I haven't the slightest clue what you're going on about! Look, I know you're upset we took your boyfriend, but we didn't do all _that_.. I-I didn't order him to get--"

"I don't care." Henry could see it all now, almost running through his vision as if he were seeing glimpses of the future again. Letting Reginald go, shooting him all over as he fell, body crashing into the snow, pure white bleeding red and red--

"STOP!"

Henry's head immediately twitched back to Charles, thinking RHM had gotten to him, but he was still warily standing a couple feet away. Charles, having collapsed onto his knees, crawled closer around to his side. "Henry, you.. don't have to do this."

What.

"Y-you don't, okay? They.." Charles looked away to cough, spitting out blood. Oohh boy, he might've punctured a lung now with all that running.  
"..they're thieves. They'll go on trial again, get imprisoned, but.. you can't kill em." Their mission was to apprehend, not just aimlessly kill burglars off. Maybe if the mission statement was a bit more ambiguous, it'd be fine. But it wasn't.

Henry shook his head again and again. "They. Hurt you."

"One, toppat hurt me. Not them. Th-they actually ah.. helped set my broken arm, before negotiations began. Jus.. just let him go."

He didn't get it, he really didn't. "He's still responsible-"

"No Hen, come on." Soft, his voice was so soft and raspy and it was killing him just as gently. "They.. they're married, you know??"

"I already knew that." Reginald and RHM briefly exchanged incredulous glances.

"Right.." Charles half grimaced, half smiled. "Of course you did." He cradled his terribly broken sides in a wince and Henry almost did it, almost let go of Reginald so he could go over to help soothe him.  
"Please Henry, it's okay."

"It's not."

"Hen-"

"It _isn't._ " Henry's hands shook, but he didn't know what from. His wrath? Grief? Exhaustion finally catching up to him? All of the above?? "You.. you were tortured."

"..Yes. And, that sucked. A lot." Charles swallowed hard. "But I'm telling you, I survived okay. Okay-ish. Thanks to Ellie, thanks to _you_ , so.. it's alright."

"But you were.. y-you were--"

"I know what you're thinking Hen, but it was _not_ that." Henry's entire body wobbled, then (finally) got crashed with all the strain and injuries from before, from everything. Like the ocean summoned its entire being into one singular wave to slam into him.  
It was starting to snow again. "Do you trust me?"

Henry mutely nodded, tears coming out for who knows what the fuck for.

"Then.. listen to me, and set him down."

It took _immense_ effort for Henry to process the action, even more to slowly pull Reginald back unto stable ground. He let go.  
RHM caught Reginald, and Henry staggered down to his knees and hurriedly made his way over to Charles.

"I'm sorry." He kissed him all over, couldn't help it.

Charles weakly grinned, leaning an arm heavily on his shoulder. "Hey, it's all good. I'm here, you're here, Ellie's got backup below."

"I'm sorry."

"..aw Hen.." Henry was full on weeping now, his state of discord and murky brain coming to an end at last, fog clearing. He had zeroed in so hard on getting revenge, he completely forgot about getting Ellie and Charles OUT of here first and foremost, and he felt terrible for it.

"Sor-"

"You don't have to apologize for anything, really." Charles kissed him back on the cheek, wiping the streams of salt away. "..geez, look at you." Henry did. He gained a couple more bullet shots and grazes, his clothes more than just a little bloodied.

He huffed. He's been through worse, and he knew Charles knew that too. Maybe not in his actual lived out life, but he certainly went through MANY a grotesque death when tinkering around in that whole multiverse thing. Not all were particularly painful, but many were. He couldn't quite summon the memories very well by will, but nighttime was a different story.  
  
"You mean look at _you_. What.." Henry gently traced Charles' neck, and he felt him gulp.

"He just.. choked me. Kinda." Henry stared at him. "Okay, definitely, but that's not where I'm super hurt. My uhm, ribs are sorta broken."

"Shit." Henry moved into a crouch to help him up.

"I mean, I can still walk. But maybe we should fir-"

An outburst from Reginald, who was shouting into his phone, interrupted them--"Not NOW you idiot!", followed by RHM's "Whoa-WHOA!", definitively shaking them out of their little bubble. Henry looked to where he was pointing at.

  
. . .  
  


>Move out rocket launcher's way

>Push Charles away

  
Was this even an option?  
Henry (with a mental apology) shoved Charles out the way, diving after him as soon as he could.  
RHM and Reginald were already down the stairs by the time of the rocket's deployment, then booming explosion.

  
. . .

  
Henry's hearing was muddled up again, which was just _spectacular._ But he was still alive.  
  
He blinked away the soot and dust, waiting for the smoke to settle to search for Charles. As it died down, he saw Charles' figure lying down where he threw him. He tried to stand and run to him in a panic, but he couldn't, for whatever reason. His balance was weirdly off, and he--

Oh.

Hm.

His.. his leg.

Was over there.

Finally looking down, he found that his left leg ended in a stump, roughly in the middle of his calf. It was simply _pouring--_ mad GUSHING out a bright crimson river, and he plopped down in the growing pool.

...Why wasn't he screaming bloody murder right now? This is pretty much the worst injury he's ever physically gotten (technically) in his life. He chalked it off to shock, and fell back.

Two hands grasped at his arms, tugging in a frenzy. He turned to see Charles, face wildly worried, mouth moving but sounding like he was underwater.  
He kissed it.

Charles threw his hands up, then promptly redirected them to Henry's mic, taking it off to put it on beneath a battered headphone. Right. He forgot about those.

Slowly, but surely, his hearing cleared, and the whining ringing lessened enough for him to finally understand words.

"--lmost there? You have to call the General, Henry needs a medic stat. I- ok, okay we BOTH need a medic stat. Hurry." Charles set it down, crumbling to lie beside Henry.  
"Henry, can you-" He turned away just in time to _not_ hack out blood all over Henry's numb face, "-damn. H-henry, can you hear me?"

Henry nodded. "Rest."

Charles knocked his forehead down on Henry's chest, shaking. "Your leg.."

"Yep." Henry shuffled closer, _still_ not feeling the pain. What the heck? He thought he used up a whole lifetime's worth of adrenaline already. The human body sure was amazing. "Did you, get hurt?"

Charles opened and closed his mouth. "..just focus on breathing Hen. You lost a-"

"Did you get hurt."

"N... yeah, a little. My rib, I-I think it went deeper in. It-" He let out a quaky wheeze. "-hurts."

Henry held Charles' face, thumbing his chin over and over. No more talking.  
  
The two laid in silence for a long minute, feeling little speckles of fluffy snow burn their face. Henry opened his eyes once he heard another pair.. actually, multiple pairs of feet coming up the stairs.

Ellie.

"Holy SHIT." A soldier immediately went to retrieve Henry's dismembered part of his leg, and brought it close to the cut off area. Ellie practically teleported, instantly crouched over the two boys. "You two are _unbelievable._ Fuck, fuck! Henry your-"

"I know." He groaned. "But, don't worry. It's alright." His sight was starting to blacken, fading in and out. Ain't bloodloss a bitch. Charles had already fallen to unconsciousness five seconds after he closed his eyes, breathing steadily against his neck.

Ellie gripped Henry's shoulders as some other soldiers came up with some stretchers. "How. The General isn't answering and there isn't a hospital for _miles_ , how is this--ANY of this, alright?!"

"Cause.." He smiled dorkily. "..I know a doctor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man
> 
> now that THAT'S all done and over with, I can finally get into all the fluff I want yess


	16. sighs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> writing fluff for this was like having heartburn rinse through my aorta again and again haha wowee

If you would've told Dr. Vinschpinsilstien (henceforth, Dr. Vin, a nickname she commonly had to accept) that she was going to return from her monthly restock to her docked workstation boat getting stormed by a frantic woman carrying two men down _\--and a leg_ \--, shouting about "where in the fucking fuck" was she... well, she probably would've reacted in the same way to the redhead herself, and dropped her bagel.

Once over the initial surprise though, she sprung into action, never wasting time when it came to fulfilling the doctor's oath and helping anyone when needed.

There were a couple American soldiers that hung back on the dock, most being on this boat with (peculiarly) a Russian insignia. With how the woman had aggressively shooed them away back to "base", she figured that was the reason she was holding up the two grown adults all by herself. Rather impressively, might she add.

It was only after the woman asserted how she _will_ be staying on the boat, because those were _her_ idiotic boys she had to make sure were okay before killing them herself, that Dr. Vin finally got her name.

Ms. Ellie Rose.

Ellie had stayed in a separate room to look after Charles' vitals while Dr. Vin worked on the man with the cut off leg first. The surgery was rushed, her trying to stabilize him in a flurry, because the other man was losing a fair bit of blood too and looked to have a _crap_ ton of internal injuries.

It would've been an overwhelming endeavor to most, but she was experienced in working under pressure. That and, Ellie had taken to her instructions decently to help keep the other one awake so she could focus more. He had a concussion, and while falling asleep wouldn't cause much more damage, it would conceal any evidence of concurrent brain damage, which isn't ever great.

Thankfully, he displayed no seizures or other such symptoms, and soon enough Dr. Vin finished the surgery to move onto the next.

This whole time, Ellie was tensely impatient and worried out of her goddamn _mind_. However, the doctor definitely seemed to know what they were doing, which helped to calm her a bit. And she did remember Henry mentioning how Dr. Vinsch..pencil...stien?? Whatever the fuck, but point is, she apparently was the one to revive him with cybernetics in another life. If those aren't Grade A credentials, she doesn't know what is.

Finally, after Dr. Vin finished fixing up all of Charles' injuries, she motioned Ellie to come into the medical ward. She was about to go into the details of the surgery, when Ellie shook her head and removed the dividers between Charles' and Henry's cot.

"..Pardon but, what are you doing?"

"Trust me when I say that it'll make life a whole lot easier for the both of us if you just let them share a bed."

"Hm? I see... well, most cots I have are for single, but I do have one in the back for larger patients."

"Roll it out." Ellie was _not_ about to have these healing dumbasses fall over to the ground in an attempt to try and look for each other or get closer, cause she knew that was _exactly_ how it would play out.

Ellie effortlessly (but carefully) transferred the two heavily drugged up boys over to the wider bed. Idiots instantly drew closer to each other like they were magnets, and Ellie huffed fondly. She covered them with blankets as Dr. Vin hooked them up to their respective IV bags, finally beginning the report.

"You were lucky you came in so soon after the amputation. Severed limbs can be reattached within several hours of the loss."

Ellie bit at her nail, staring hard at the sleeping patients, recalling.  
Henry had managed to give her the general location of the doctor's boat right before losing consciousness (she would've _strangled_ him had he just knocked out before telling her). She was able to book it to the nearest docks in a tank with some other soldiers, then took a boat--she _asked_ to use it alright?--to barrel down the shoreline until she found the one with "99J" on it, matching Henry's description.

It was frantic, it was _lucky,_ and she wouldn't be at all surprised if she gained a white hair or two from the whole ordeal.  
  
"Will he be okay?"

"He should be. Nerve reconnection was difficult, but I specialize in cybernetic augmentations. Aptitude in anatomy is--"

"Alright alright, but tell me, _will he be okay?"_

Dr. Vin blinked, adjusting her glasses. "..Yes. He will need physical therapy, but he seems strong. So does other one."

Ellie smacked her forehead. "Right, uh--Henry and Charles." She pointed to them respectively. "We're.. we work for the government."

"да, I saw the soldiers from before. American?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

She glanced at Ellie's own issued uniform pants, a faded U.S. flag sewn on the side.  
"...lucky guess." Dr. Vin walked back out into the main waiting room as she spoke, followed closely by Ellie. "Bullet grazes and wounds were not fatal. Do not move his leg cast until next time you see me--"

"Next time?"

Another glasses readjustment. "As the one who healed them, I should oversee their recovery, no?"

"I mean, I guess so. Well.. how much should we pay you for all this then?"

Dr. Vin rose her brow. "I usually do not charge my services in emergencies like this.. but the emergencies also usually let me practice my cybernetics..."

"I can totally get the General to pay you, like, a shitload."

She smiled. "I'll have to check currency rates later, but thank you." Then waving a hand, "Anyway, we will discuss payment after they recover."  
The two of them stopped walking upon reaching a more cozy, homey looking room of the boat. Dr. Vin gestured her to sit down at a small table, left the room briefly out one door (there was a second door that seemingly led down to a small bedroom), then returned with tea.  
"We can wait here until they wake up. I have sensor app in phone, so I should know when they do."

Ellie sipped on the tea, nose scrunching up bitterly. It was sorta bleh, but she decided to indulge the doctor who saved her best friends' lives.  
Dr. Vin had also taken out some first-aid kit out a nearby cabinet, moving to apply a few bandages to Ellie.

"Oh, I'm fine."

"You have some grazes on your arm."

She looked down, surprised. The blood was all dried by now, thinly scabbing over. "Huh.. guess I didn't feel it." She hoped Dr. Vin wouldn't ask about the whole fiasco, and after she got all patched up, she thanked her for both the painkillers and not probing.

"..now, the Charles one?" Ellie nodded quickly.  
"He had a light concussion, some broken and agitated ribs, punctured left lung, broken right arm, and heavy lacerations in both forearms." Ellie might have already seen it all, but she still grimaced at the long list. "The cuts didn't touch major arteries though, which is a miracle. There were many deep stabs in arms and left thigh."

Then, she leaned in. "The injuries were.. repetitive, especially on ribs. Like they kept getting scrambled up?"

Ellie growled, hands running through her hair. "Fuck, that little--it was... ugh.. it's not really my place to share. But, let's just say we had a bad run in with some criminals."  
Hm, it felt somewhat strange saying that when she used to be one herself. Not gonna lie, but it felt kinda good propping herself up on a higher moral level than them now.

"I understand."

They both sipped their cups at the same time upon the abrupt silence, and Ellie found it somewhat funny. She set the cup down, sighing.  
"..so, they're both gonna be alright, right?"

"We'll see. Their bodies went through much stress, but nothing permanently disabled. They should be fully healthy again after months of rest and--" She went on and on about some extra details, but all Ellie needed to hear was that. She let out a long breath of relief, at last loosening her muscles.  
  
They were going to be fine.  
Sure, maybe they'll go a little bed crazy, but they going to be _fine,_ and Ellie finally let herself unwind, stretching her poor, _poor_ legs.

Now able to relax a bit, she noted a few more details on the doctor herself.  
She found the red tinted glasses and dark maroon, almost black lipstick to be an interesting choice for a medical expert.. but what the heck. When you're real good at something, you can do pretty much whatever.  
The pale skin was expected, along with long blond hair that look infinitely times softer than hers, and while she couldn't quite tell the color of her eyes behind those glasses, she could tell they were extremely perceptive...

"--but I'm no dietician.. now I have question, are those two your boyfriends?"

Ellie took back her compliment.

  
  
\---

  
  
Henry was the first to wake up, and he couldn't have been more grateful that it was to a sterile medical unit instead of the afterlife. He didn't even remember what had stumbled out of his mouth when telling Ellie about where Dr. Vin might be, but he knew that she'd get it. And evidently, he was gonna have to buy her a whole tinbox of cookies after this as an apologetic thank you.

Groggily blinking a few times, he took a minute to drowsily shift underneath the blankets, pleasantly warm. It was a vast contrast from the constant simmering burn he felt during his crazed rampage, from the blistering snowy winds outside, and he wanted to fall deeper and deeper into it.

...it was somewhat familiar. It, almost reminded him of--

"Charles?" He rubbed his tired eyes, straining to see in the dim room. There were some empty cots opposite of him, but the sides were obscured by green curtains.

He moved to sit up, finding himself unable to swing his legs over the edge to try and search for him due to the large cast encasing his left leg, when he realized that the warm thing he was up against wasn't a rumpled up part of the sheets. He uncovered a bit of the blanket, then very nearly toppled on top of the lump.

It was Charles. Sleeping, covered in bandages, honestly has seen WAY better days- but there he was, safe and (relatively) painless at last and holy _shit_..

He had the cutest snores ever, damn him.

Henry went back under the covers, though still mostly sat up, leaning against the wall to frame Charles in his arms, and he indulgently spent a few minutes looking down to gaze at the dozing face. Probably creepy, but he held the official title of boyfriend so, he excused himself.  
He tried to stealthily kiss his head a few times without waking him up, but that only seemed to summon Charles' conscious all the more, and he roused.

"Mrm... wh..?" Charles blearily opened his eyes to the roof, confused. In a move that fascinated Henry, Charles only flitted his eyes around to scope out the room, body staying stiller than it was before. Once the eyes reached him however, he went lax.  
"Henry!"

"Good morning." He had no idea what time it was, or how much of it had passed, but so long as he could spend it with Charles, who the hell cares.

"Where.. are we?" Charles shifted up too, now level with Henry. "We back in the military medbays?"

Henry shook his head. "Remember that doctor I told you about from another timeline?"

"Yeah.. uhh, Dr. Vinchpinstien?"

"Close enough. After the missile attack, Ellie found us and I told her to take us to her. She's a really talented doctor."

Charles nodded, thinking. His brow furrowed for a second, sifting memories, then he jolted. "Your leg--"  
They both looked down to the clunky cast, wrapped from the foot up to his thigh. "Is it.. do you know what happened?"

"I just woke up. Don't know.. maybe it's a cybernetic leg, but I still feel some pain there. Just a little." He sure hoped he didn't lose it. Dr. Vin's cybernetics felt incredibly natural, but it still wasn't something he'd want to go through with again.  
Giving his toes a little test wiggle, he eyed the IV bag on either side of the bed, grateful for it numbing his body down. "Let's just, wait for the doctor to come?"

"Yeah.. yeah, good idea." Neither moved, still facing each other, half reclined on their sides.

They kissed.

And unlike before, when Henry had showered Charles in frantically scattered pecks after he talked him down from killing the chief, this was slower. Less hurried and stressed, more tender and revered. They could finally slow down and take their time cherishing each other, so they did.

As they kissed, Charles drew him in close until they were hugging near chest to chest, with Henry's hands making their way to Charles' curly hair, and the two eventually slid back down until they were fully laying in bed. They broke for air, then Henry shuffled even closer, snuggling down till his head rested on his chest.

Then he tried to jerk it away. "Shit, wait- is your chest okay? You.." Before Charles could placate him and say that _yes, everything is totally ok, i'm probably too drugged up to feel anything anyway,_ Henry's fingers scrambled on to lower the blankets, worriedly examining his torso.

Henry still had his undershirt on, with some kind of medical gown over it to cover up the rest of him and his boxers. Charles was dressed on top, completely and utterly, by bandages, bound all around his shoulders, arms, chest, even neck. Further down, it looked like one of his thighs were wrapped too, him also being down to his boxers. Though he didn't have a medical gown, which Henry found a tad unfair, because those things looked _ridiculous._

Charles slowly dragged the blankets back up, and laid Henry's head back to his chest. "I'm good."

"You're a mummy." If the thin bandages around his head covered his face too, he'd fit the role perfectly.

He chuckled, then gasped. "Hey, I can breathe!"

Henry looked and looked at Charles.

"I-I mean, I could breathe before. But like, I can laugh now."

Henry grimaced, and lowered light kisses to the chest. "..how did they break?"

Charles didn't answer.  
Rather, he tried taking the deep breaths he'd been craving for earlier, and aside from being stopped halfway by _some_ resistance, he didn't feel any piercing pains anymore.

"Wow. Must be a good doctor."

Henry murmured in agreement, still kissing. Charles smiled, holding his cheeks to stop and rest again on his shoulder. "You're a good doctor too! Feel better already."

Grinning, Henry shimmied up and buried his face into Charles' hot neck, kissing there too.

"The best medicine!"

"Stop." Henry laughed quietly, finally satisfied with Charles' state, and they cuddled in silence for a long while, hands lightly caressing anywhere they could. They soon enough settled with Henry softly rubbing his lower sides, and Charles circling soothing hands on his back.  
It was by far the best cuddle Henry ever did cuddle in his nonexistent cuddling life, and by _god_ did he want more.  
  
Charles was fairly used to and comfortable with physical touches by now. But Henry's heart might as well have burst into a million confetti pieces at how it wholly flooded with so much _fondness_ and _want_ and- something that honestly felt like it was just a little bit more than love. It engulfed him, staggering, unused to such close tenderness.  
  
He couldn't bear the feelings swelling higher and higher in his chest any longer (if he was a cat, he'd be purring like a motherfucker right about now) once Charles hugged him slightly tighter with a little sigh into his hair, and he had to get it out somehow, so,

"I love you."

Charles looked down at Henry in surprise at the suddenness of it, who was now very dutifully hiding his face in his chest. Henry didn't know why, they had gotten all super lovey dovey before, but this somehow felt different.

"I love you too." And there goes his soul. Henry could've screamed at the painful genuinity, sweet burning heating up his whole body in a way entirely different from the sort of burning indignant rage or pleasure would get you.

Speaking of pleasure, Henry surged up to kiss Charles again in response, head tilted back as Charles pressed closer. He couldn't help but grasp at his neck (delicately, it was still bandaged after all) in an effort to get closer, dig into him, join as one, _melt_ \- and hot _damn_ was he head over heels for this guy.  
  
Charles made a muffled noise as Henry licked his lower lip, and he acquiesced to Henry's overwhelming urge to get _closer, closer please._ Opening his mouth, the two shared a brief french kiss, Henry flinching at the gentle tongue setting his own aflame with every slight touch, and soon enough he had to depart.

He flusteredly went back to getting embraced by Charles (oh the joys of little spooning), still trying to inch closer even though he was starting to feel hot, edging on sweating.  
Charles fanned the blankets around them to help cool him down, then wrapped them back over. He stopped Henry's efforts to intertwine their legs, because that cast was _beyond_ bulky, and merely draped a leg over to satiate him.

They could've done this dance forever and ever, holding each other and cuddling like there was no tomorrow. Especially since they both rather recently _did_ believe there'd be no tomorrow. However, that was exactly the thing to be addressed, and it hung around them. Quietly, not too heavily, but there.

Henry tried again. "Charles.."

"Mm?"

"..want to talk about it?"

He felt some muscles stiffen, and he immediately thumbed them over and over to calm him. Charles tsked.  
  
"Welll.. uhm, not _really._ " Henry deflated. He knew he didn't HAVE to find out, and he'd be fine if Charles wanted to keep whatever happened back there to stay in Vegas (that's.. not how the idiom goes is it), but he also was--just a little-- _DYING_ to know. He felt obligated to. Had to. After all, Henry had dumped much of his baggage on Charles and Ellie before when revealing his bizarre timelining piece of past. Why shouldn't he help carry something for him?

Charles internally winced at Henry's dejection, and reached a hand up to pet his hair, combing it. Henry leaned his head into it, and Charles cooed. "Sorry Hen. But uh... okay, maybe.. maybe I'll feel more up to it if, you go first?"

Henry looked up questioningly.

"Y'know, I'm still pretty curious about everything else that went down." Henry nodded, beginning from when they were both back at the Wall.

His grief at Charles getting kidnapped--"Ow, okay! Sorry for crashing. I _promise_ I won't do it again. Swear."  
Then his guiding of Ellie into the toppat base--"Hey, maybe you can take over recon for me sometime.. I'm kidding Hen."  
And finally, him basically going on a murderous frenzy after Ellie found him.

"...Henry that's.. well, I mean- it's pretty flattering not gonna lie, but you really didn't have to risk yourself too.."

"Couldn't help it." Henry nestled his cheek further into Charles' chest as Charles massaged his neck slowly. Their unending canoodling was still largely wholesome, but in no situation would Henry ever NOT smush his face into _those_ tids whenever he felt like, no siree bob.  
"Everything just went.. quiet. And crazy. And--" Oh yeah, his new ability of sorts. "--I kind of got that power back??"

"Huh? Wha- you mean, you're trapped in that choice game thing agai--"

"No, no.. it's different." Henry struggled, taking a minute to gather his words.  
"...It's like, a few main options come to my head, then I see glimpses of what would happen if I did them. But, I can still choose to do something else. Not like before when I was forced to, and..." Charles bent down, pecking him on the forehead.

"It's all over now."

"It's all over." But, a little doubt held on, because was it really? This new thing of his.. what if it led into something bigger? What if it somehow had to do with that weird deity?? What if--

"I can almost hear your thoughts."

"Sorry."  
Charles shook his head, nuzzling Henry's head lightly with his arms and staring down at him intensely.

"Your eyes are pretty."

Henry huffed. "They're brown."

" _Very_ pretty. Soo prett- the pretti _est_."

His distraction worked decently, and Henry sighed into Charles' chest, smiling like the fool he was. He continued,

"..after that, I went to the toppat base. Gave them hell."

"Hm. Nobody tried to stop you?"

Oof. "The.. General..?"

Charles stayed still for a moment. "And, what happened?"

"I may have. Knocked him.. out."

Charles gawked. "You _knocked the General out."_ Henry had the decency to look sheepish. "You- you knocked.."

"My bad."

"Oh man.. maaan." Charles tussled his hair. "He's not gonna be too happy about that."

"He'll forgive me."

"He.." Charles groaned. "Ugh, this is gonna be _such_ a sucky report to write.. I don't want h-" His mouth clamped down soundly, and Henry caught it.

"What is it?"

"Uh.. you finish first."

Henry shrugged an arm. "I went in, wreaked havoc, and almost killed the chief."

"Welp. That was fast."

"What's wrong?" Henry brushed some wavy fringes of hair out of Charles' eyes, waiting.

"I... uhh, well I just.. don't really want him to. Know??"

Henry frowned. "About?"

"What happened. To me. Just-" He waved a hand. "Whatever. I have to report it all anyway."

"..will you tell me?"

"I-I don't.." Charles pressed his lips together. "I dunno. I.. think I want to."

"But?"

"But I dunno."

"It could help."

"Look, I know talking things out is good, and it helps you a lot. But I don't.. uh, need to?"

"That is some top tier bullshi--"

"Alright, alright. I should. I just don't. And.. that's unhealthy, I get it."

Henry drew back to look at him squarely in the eyes. "Charles, trust me when I say it'll only get worse if you ignore it."

"I know.."

"It'll just become a permanent pain."

"I mean, I can kinda handle those." Henry gave him the most deadpan look he could possibly summon right now, and Charles relented. "Okay! I'll.. try."

Henry nodded, moving right back into their cocoon, wrapping his arms around his waist loosely. He almost felt bad for continuously pushing him for it, but like a lot of things, he couldn't help it. He'd go nuts if he didn't know, needing at least a rough idea of what went down so to best help him.

  
...Silence.

  
Henry nudged him slightly. And when that didn't do it, "...Charles.."

"I know! I.. heh, don't usually do this."

"Charles.."

"You ever gone to a therapist before? Cause wow, I think mine hated me."

"Charles!"

He puffed out his cheeks in defeat, and Henry squeezed them. "Fine, fine.." Charles grumped. "..so uhh, after negotiations.. they took me to the bottom floor."

Henry motioned him to keep going.

"..At first they just questioned me a little. That Slice guy? He was alright." Henry kept nodding him on, now glad he didn't kill the fella then and there. "Then um, this other dude.. h..."  
Charles quirked an eyebrow. Huh. That's weird. His tongue all of a sudden, really, _really_ didn't want to say the name aloud, basically disconnected from the rest of his brain. Funny.

Henry reached up to comfortingly kiss a spot under his jaw over and over, and Charles almost whined from how much his heart _hurt_ at Henry trying this hard.  
Not even from when they began dating, nor after that mission where Henry told him he was bi and (he was pretty sure) _almost_ kissed him--since the very beginning, it had taken Henry a good few weeks to get used to Charles' touchy nature. He took it in better stride since then, but he was still fairly a novice to it all. Which, was cute as all heck, and he didn't mind in the slightest.

So naturally, Charles swooped down to meet the kisses again. Henry happily went along with it, regardless of him knowing it could either be as thanks or a way to stall. Or just as easily, both.

He looped an arm around Henry's neck, locking him in as they took.. what, their fifth detour to smooch city?  
Either way, that _did_ things to him, and Henry loved it so much that he had to wrest away so he didn't do something stupid like accidentally moan or some shit.  
They hadn't gone into that territory yet, though he definitely wanted to eventually. Just.. maybe not now when the both of them were still ridiculously injured and healing. He still had a _little_ bit of common sense left in him.

Henry caught his breath, kneading his forehead into Charles' bicep while mumbling, "You have to stop that."

Charles pouted. "I just wanted to kiss you."

"Yes. But you're also trying to avoid talking."

"Hmmnm." Charles stretched a leg. "Maybe."

Henry sighed, suppressing a smile. "Come on." They shifted back into their prior cuddle, and Henry wedged in his head into Charles' collar.

"Are you sure you er, wanna know?"

Henry nodded so hard, his head almost knocked up into Charles' chin.

"Alrighty then.. okay. Ok." He took a deep breath.

  
  
\---

  
  
Ellie ought to apologize to all the nerds she teased in middle school, because _this_ nerd was pretty cool.  
They quickly trailed off from medical stuff to more personal anecdotes, and the doctor's past turned out to be a much more interesting one than she'd have ever guessed. It almost made _her_ want to overshare. Almost.

"..you seriously gave that dude a whole hip replacement after everything?" Ellie was through her fourth cup of tea, and the taste was starting to grow on her. Though mostly, it was an excuse for them to continue talking, and she kept up the charade even though she _really_ needed to piss.

Dr. Vin smiled. "Oh, he was a jerk. But, he was also very elderly."

"Age doesn't excuse being an asshole."

"No, but I understand. Few elders in my country would be so accepting. Besides, I am a doctor. I must help when I can."

Ellie shook her head, laughing. "Too noble for your own good, don't you think?"

"It's what being a doctor is about."

She hummed, rubbing a finger against her thumb. "But what about the cost? You don't.." Her eyes twinkled, a smidge of mischief. "..steal your supplies, do you?"

Dr. Vin startled. "What? No, of course not."

"Meh, I figured."

"Before, I was funded by Russian government. Then after they cracked down on free press more, I decided to become solo practitioner."

"You were government funded??"

"Once да, and I saved enough to be able to do this. Travel.. see many new things, all while practicing cybernetic technology." She had a somewhat content look pass by on her face.

"That's.." Strange tugs of yearning pulled at Ellie. Which was odd, because she thought she was perfectly satisfied with the way things already were: a stable job that rakes in cash, two new family members, the occasional army girl to boink, decent.  
"..really cool actually. Sounds like you're living the dream." The yearning didn't even seem to pull her in any one direction. It wasn't really for traveling the world or anything cause, she already did that. They did plenty of foreign missions. It just was there, messy and knotted, waiting to be untangled.

"Oh, I tell myself that all the time." Her lips tugged halfway. "Though, it can get a little lonely sometimes. I don't mind. But, now and then.."

Ellie nodded. "I get that." She loved her set of people right now, and despite Henry and Charles dating--they never really isolated her. She could barge in anytime and plop down with them to play video games and it wouldn't be considered intrusive to anyone.  
But, she also knew their close quarters wouldn't last forever. Things will change, as they always did.  
"...y'know, it'd be pretty sweet if you got funded by the U.S. government, right?"

Dr. Vin coughed, fumbling with her cup. "The states? I don't know.."

"Hey I mean, I know we're not perfect. Like, at all. But chances are, people will hear of it if you ever get censored for whatever reason-"

"No, it's.. hm." Dr. Vin stood up, repouring tea from the mini open kitchen nearby. "I wasn't censored. But many others were. I prefer to, stay out of all that." Politics.  
It'd always be everywhere, whether by land, sea, the skies or space.. but, it definitely wouldn't crowd a boat on the ocean as much as it would a rooted house on earth.

"Stay out the mess, totally." Ellie could understand that, really, she could. But for whatever reason, it still nudged at her annoyingly. "Though.. never could hurt to have a bigger boat, right?"

Dr. Vin returned, eyes smiling curiously. "It couldn't hurt."

They shared a quiet moment of tea. Dr. Vin finally brought her phone up to check the time, then nearly sputtered.

"O-Oh dear." Ellie peered over to the screen, seeing three notifications. "They, they were up. A while ago. Damn- how did I not see this?" She pocketed the phone, but Ellie held her wrist down before she could hurry away.

"There's seriously no need to rush. Really, you might even want to give them some time to talk." Or make out. She rolled her eyes. "Believe me, they'll need it."

Dr. Vin cocked her head. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Frankly, Ellie just wanted to chill a little longer. This was the first stretch of a break she got since this morning, the skies now quickly darkening to dusk, and.. it was nice. Talking to another lady.  
She loved the bros, but they could get overbearing at times, in more ways than one. And, yes, she spoke with plenty of other gals in the military, but she has yet to make any decent connections with one as a close friend.  
Besides... always a good change of pace to talk to a girl she _wasn't_ trying to get down with, so there's that.

The two amicably went back and forth, had a gracious bathroom break, then chatted some more as time flew by...  
Till Ellie realized two things.

One, it was night now. Those two have been up, and together, in bed, for a _while_ now.

Two, she was pretty sure Dr. Vin would get pissed if her two patients fucked on her cots, for a _multitude_ of reasons.  
So she up and ran.

  
  
\---

  
  
Charles had managed to touch upon everything Sk.. goddamn it, he _still_ couldn't say it! He went through what the interrogator did to him in a fairly neutral manner, and he thought he'd be good for the rest of it.  
But the part with his ribs gave him some pause, and nearing the end, his stupid hands were starting to shake on their own accord just a little. _A little._

Henry, obviously, noticed everything and took the hands up in his. He was also fairly proud on himself for not losing his bloody temper again upon learning about how he got cut up.  
"I'm sorry." That would usually be interpreted as a "sorry for what you went through" kind of sincerity, but what Henry had really meant was _i'm sorry for wanting so much, sorry for needing to know, but i have to, just have to_.  
Charles swallowed hard.

"N-nah, it's all cool. I just, uhm." He blinked faster, and Henry thoughtfully rubbed his wrists, soft. "I dunno. I don't wan.. I don't think I have to tell you the rest is all."

Henry _narrowly_ stopped his sulk by the millisecond. "Why?"

"It's.. like, I don't get hurt. Physically, so uh... yeah. And Ellie came in right after anyways."

"You.." What Henry should have said was " _you have nothing to worry about, if you don't wanna say, that's all fine by me",_ but he couldn't, because it _wasn't_ fine by him. He felt like he had to know everything to help him, lighten the load, know what to avoid, know what to say, etc.

But before he could try and articulate any of that, he heard a voice coming in from the corridor, and as soon as he made out the words, he wanted to burrow himself into the mattress springs and _die._

"Please don't be having sex right now, _please_ don't be havi--oh! Hey guys." Ellie entered the room, jogging over to their entangled bundle of cuddles.

Charles waved awkwardly. "Heyy Ellie. Um.. we're not. Doing that. So-"

"Does your shoulder hurt?" Ellie smiled. "Like, if someone hypothetically bitch slapped the fuck out of it, would it harm you more?"

"Huh? N..no??" Charles had no idea what to say, because on one side, Ellie was encouragingly nodding for him to reply, while on the other side, Henry was drastically shaking his head to not. A labcoat wearing lady off at the doorway (the doctor, he presumed) just stared, somewhat amused.

"Ok. Ok."

She then proceeded to bitch slap the fuck out of his good shoulder, and he yelped in surprise. Henry would've told her off, but he already hit him (on the exact same spot, funnily enough) before too, so he merely hugged Charles while watching the show.  
"Wha-what was that for?!"

"For _crashing_ your _helicopter_ into the _WALL???"_ Charles gulped. "And breaking your promise."

He nervously laughed, without much gusto. "Sorry?"

"You're gonna be once we get back home. Henry."

Henry prayed for the mercy of God. "..Yes?"

"Tell him about the laundry."  
But Ellie didn't wait for him to, bending over and wrapping the two in a tight but cautious hug. Both squeezed back.  
  
And they stayed that way. For a while.

  
  
\---

  
  
It was by the dead of night when the chopper finally arrived to pick them up and take the three back to the main base, where everybody else had already reconvened.

Ellie was the one to call the General up, updating him on the important stuff (they're alive) while Henry and Charles continued to coddle in bed. Though, they didn't resume their interrupted talk, and something told Henry that they wouldn't for a long, long time.  
  
After Dr. Vin exchanged contacts with everyone and reviewed the patients' injuries with them individually (Henry almost jumped on the bed after finding out he wouldn't lose his leg) they all soon found themselves standing on the dock to bid their goodbyes.

Charles went in first, aided by Ellie, while Henry hung back on a crutch with Dr. Vin to ask one last question.

"Seeing.. the future?" Dr. Vin rose a brow. "Well, what you are describing... it can be similar to how the brain anticipates future events based on past cognitive experience. Those intuitive 'bad feelings' you get, are usually because of that." She added, "Trust them."

Henry nodded, thanking her for the twelfth time before boarding the helicopter. He was also a little tempted to also thank her for saving his life in a different life, but he decided not to. Probably for the best to not share, not yet anyway. In the very least, he should tell Ellie about it first, which he did hushedly during the helicopter ride.  
  
For now, concerning his new.. thing, he'll assume it to be something like what Dr. Vin told him. A sort of peculiar remnant of the past power, whether it be of some larger outside influence, or something completely scientific and based on his experiences.

As soon as they touched down back on base, the three hurried over to their dormings and ignored everybody else as best they could. Which was hard, because they all looked like _shit,_ but they made it.  
  
Well, Charles did try to go to the post mission debrief meeting, but Ellie dragged him away without much resistance because _what a fucking day._ In fact, was it even fair to call it a day? Time is relative and whatnot; that whole shitshow could've lasted weeks for all they knew.

Stepping back into their home was disorienting almost, rushing back into unnormal normalcy, and the very first thing Ellie did was take a shower.  
The second thing she did, was flop onto her bed and crash like she drank eight bottles of vodka and somehow escaped death.  
  
Despite having already slept for a few hours, Henry and Charles did likewise, sharing Henry's bed because that's where they just happened to stumble over to.

By the time Henry began drifting to sleep, the drugs had partially worn off, and boy was he _sore._ Everybody was sore (Charles, for obvious reasons, and earlier Ellie had to "massage" her thighs shortly with a wooden spoon), but this was sorer than anything Henry had ever felt.  
Exhaustion caught up again, and it caught up faster than a horse on steroids. Or.. anything on steroids really. He didn't fucking know, his mind was turning to mush.

The only real prominent thought that clearly stood out from all rest in his mind, as he once again rested in a Charles Cuddle™, was this simple little factoid:  
  
He was really _never_ going to tire of snuggling with Charles till the day he died, and that is on ~~deity~~ god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kinda rushed this, but i rlly hope yall enjoy the fluffy!
> 
> dunno when i can write it, but next chapter's still gonna be pretty wholesome  
> though, it's also gonna be.. a little more.. yknow... ;)


	17. badda bing badda boom baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this took forEVER, and i will blame 90% of it on school.  
> turns out writing a fic is pretty hard while you have to write two original short stories for an assignment :,D
> 
> a bit rushed again, but here it be, and i hope y'all like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: obligatory smut incoming  
> i always kinda wanted to write a more realistic sex scene, so here's my attempt!  
> it's like, more than half this chapter, so

Come the typically sunshiny morning with birds atwittering annoyingly outside, Henry woke to Charles lightly nudging him on the shoulder, softly murmuring to slowly rouse him from sleep as he's done so every day for the past couple weeks.

The topics were usually randomly strung together: whispers about breakfast, Ellie hogging the bathtub again, pancakes (actually, that was a rather consistent subject), video games, dreams, and of course...

The General.

Henry grabbed all the blankets and pillows he possibly could, threw them over him and Charles, then stubbornly hid beneath. This trap of his worked a few times in the beginning, but Charles soon learned to resist it in favor of slightly more important things. Such as their long awaited debrief.

Hurrah.

Galeforce had actually given them a couple weeks to wind down from the _very_ stressful mission, offering some time to heal better. Ellie was the first to fully recover, after redeeming that spa coupon she insistently demanded from the General. Charles was still rather sore all over, but he was definitely closer to recovery than Henry was.

Now, that leg would take at least--even with all the cool sauce medicines the government could provide and Dr. Vin's unreal craftsmanship--a few months to 100% recover back to full working condition. A few months before he could return to doing missions again... that is, if the General would let him.

Charles had reassured him that it was an excusable mishap on his part, and that Henry probably wouldn't get discharged or anything crazy like that. After all, he's just about their best (and luckiest) agent yet.  
Still, Henry was in _no_ hurry to see the General again after.. y'know, knocking him out.

So far though, after getting in several weeks of rest (and paid leave, sweet) everything seemed to smoothly dial back down to their usual hijinks and normalcy.

Kind of.

Dr. Vin visited every now and again to check up on Henry and Charles. Ellie took the paid leave to her fullest advantage, and went back and forth to lord knows where fairly frequently (Henry will connect the dots soon enough).  
  
This left Charles and Henry to just sort of chill in the spacious dorms for days at a time.

It was during those moments Henry would try most in helping Charles with his own recovery too. Not physical--both of them were pretty much covered by Vin--but the other, messier kind.  
And it was _difficult,_ to say the least.

Charles deflected more than a mile long solar panel in the goddamn Saharan desert, and it nearly _impressed_ him. After a while of not getting terribly far with talks or mild questioning, Henry decided to focus more on other little acts instead.

Like hugging him from behind whenever Henry caught him staring at the kitchen knife too long. Or kissing his knuckles if they started to tremble as he got back into the swing of cooking, or rather, cutting.  
He seemed to appreciate those a lot more, and Henry (despite his niggling curiosity) was happy to provide.

After all, might as well return the favor for the many, _many_ late nights Henry would wake up to a cold sweat, and have Charles coax him back to sleep with a lullaby or two. Or an out of place pun. Either worked.

"Heeenry." Charles drawled, stopping his idle thoughts from fading back into dreams.

"Gmfbh."

"Rise and shine!"

"Hbrfbgh."

Charles slipped out their bed to bring over a single crutch to Henry's bedside.  
Well, his bed, technically; they still had their own bedrooms. But with how much Henry frequented Charles' place (the nightmares were surprisingly routine at first), he's practically moved in already.

"Come on Hen, General's expecting us in a few hours."

Henry made grabby hands to Charles, who (always weak for the adorable sight) gave in and slumped back in bed to him. He drowsily hugged Charles around the hips. "It's too early."

"It's ten."

"I'm hibernating."

"And it's spring." Charles chuckled, pecking him on the cheek briefly. "Aight, but seriously. We um, really should go get ready. It's Ellie's turn to do breakfast, and I think she's been getting pretty good on bacon."  
Henry opened an eye.

"Uh-huh. Bacon and eggs. Ssss." Charles made a sizzling sound, and Henry finally stretched, laughing.

"Fine. I'll.. go show my support."

"That's the spirit!" Charles aided him up, which honestly wasn't needed, but why would Henry ever say no to feeling out _those_ back muscles? What sane person would??

The two made their way to the dining space, where Ellie was cursing up a storm at the stove.  
"Fucking thing flared up." She shot a glare at the culprit. "Broken I tell you."  
Charles left Henry to sit down, inspecting the goods.

"Huh. Well uhh, it's definitely.. not black." Ellie playfully kicked at Charles' calf.

"You know, I'm starting to think fire doesn't really like me."

"What gave it away."

Soon enough, they wrapped up the meal, finally getting dressed to set out for the meeting room.  
Upon exiting the dorms, Charles kept an arm around Henry as he walked; loose enough to look casual, but firm enough to catch him if need be. Henry was still a tad groggy, so Ellie took the familiar lead in conversation.

"I mean, the General's already been caught up to speed, right?" Ellie directed to Charles. "Vin sent him the medical reports and whatever. Dunno what else there is to go through."

"It's standard." Charles shrugged. "Usually just to tie up loose strands. Plus, we technically did uh, fail. Sooo.."

"Ah."

"Not a bad thing! Happens all the time. But.."

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know we're pretty awesome--" Ellie gave a compulsory fist. "--and this is our first complication like, ever. But since this is gonna be your guys' first time, just wanna say, it can get a lil intense sometimes."

"What, Galeforce?" Ellie scoffed. "He's the most lenient higher up here."

"True. Still, doesn't mean I've never seen him get super upset and stuff."

"You got berated by the General?" Ellie looked skeptical, and as did Henry (who was very much comfortable just listening to the two go back and forth). It's clear to anybody that the General had a soft spot for the pilot.

"Well.. no? I wasn't ALWAYS under him. But um, other commanding officers definitely ripped into me before."

"I bet. How many times have you wrecked the helicopter by now?"

Charles laughed. "Oh nono, it was actually cause they er, didn't like how I talked, hehe. When I first enlisted, it was hard to stop speaking casually to them.. did it all the time to other authority figures as a kid so, hard habit to break."

Ellie pursued her lips. "But you don't do that with the General. Even though you could?"

Another shrug. "It was a hard habit to break, but.. I mean, they broke it."

"Huh." Ellie elbowed Charles' arm (gently. lord knows Dr. Vin hammered it into her). "They oughta get the medal of freedom for that."

Charles stuck out his tongue, and Ellie snickered. He spared a glance to Henry, who'd been soaking up the entire conversation like the info sponge he was, then turned back.  
"After all that, then I got placed under the General. I was always meant to honestly; he was the one who gave me the referral. But uh, y'know. Discipline first."

"Bleh. Army stuff." As much as Ellie liked her spot now, she sure didn't envy any of the soldiers running drills at five in the morning.

"Well, you guys are lucky then! You get to skip all that, haha."

With the somewhat interesting (to Henry anyway) chat, they reached the meeting room in no time.  
Based on what Charles and Ellie said, Henry knew the only real reason for this meeting was to review their mistakes on the mission. And he was certain "going on a blind raging rampage" would be high up on that list.

They entered, greeting the General waiting patiently inside. Everyone took their seats, and booyy was seeing the General again just as awkward as Henry expected it to be.

"Howdy everyone. How're you lot feeling?" Galeforce sifted through his papers as he asked.

"Same old for me." Ellie rolled a shoulder. "Still getting over my stairs ptsd."

Charles snrked. "I'm feelin good. Pretty sure I could go to the gym again--" Literally everybody else in the room pinned him down with a look. "--b-but uhh, I won't. Yet."

Henry lamely gestured to his cast. "Getting better."

"Dr. Vinschpinsilstien said that the nerves are almost done reconnecting." Ellie added, which made Henry give her a weird look she didn't see, cause.. how did _she_ know that before Vin told him? And did she just pronounce her full last name in one go?? (he'll connect the dots... eventually)

Galeforce nodded. "Good to hear. Now, I don't want to waste your time, so I'll get right into it." He cleared his throat.  
"As you know, the main objective of the mission was to capture the toppat leaders, or get their reconstruction under control. Aiding the Wall was one of the goals, but that took a backseat."

He opened his files, turned them around to the three. It was his final reports of the mission; all gobbledegook to Henry. "Obviously, we failed in that. Some got arrested, but the chief got away in the end. Now, that was mainly due to little bits of miscommunication. It was your first time teaming up with another organization, so it's not like I expected collaboration to be perfect."

Ellie coughed, the words underlacing them likely being "Dmitri Asshat" or something along those lines. Galeforce didn't disagree.

"Ellie. You've done a fine job negotiating with the warden and strategizing. It's just that unexpected things happen, which you all rolled with to the best of your ability. Next time, a little more communication would be appreciated." She nodded. It's not like she had any issues with that. It's just.. kinda weird speaking to your former creepy captor is all.

"Charlie." He straightened. "You provided what they asked for consistently, and communications were fine on your end... till, you crashed that is."

"Ahh right. That."

"Yes, that." He took a moment to adopt a sterner tone. " _WHAT_ in tarnation made you think that'd be a good idea?"

Henry grimaced, and offered his hand to Charles beneath the desk. He happily took it.

"Well, I wasn't able to get at the toppats with any weaponry from where I was, and Ellie wouldn't have made it in time, soo I decided to slow them down with my helicopter. Sir."

"Hrm."

"I couldn't let them kidnap any of my teammates sir." A pause. "Also didn't expect them to kidnap _me,_ but, that's hindsight."

Galeforce leaned back. "I've been accepting of your piloting stunts, and they've actually been decreasing in frequency as of late. But in light of what happened after this incid--"

"No more stunts."

"--ents, I suggest y- pardon?"

"I swear, no more risky moves. Tricks. Nothing." Even Henry looked to him at that.  
Sure, after a few weeks, Henry and Ellie absolutely lectured the ever living grace out of him for the move, but, really?? Doing ridiculously reckless things with his chopper was like his bread and butter.

"Really now?" The General crossed his arms.

"I promise."

Galeforce flattened with that, then sighed. "Alright. Okay..." He scribbled something down on a notepad. "A one week suspension after recovery."

"Understood."

"And _you_ get to explain the damage to our mechanics."

Charles winced a bit at that. "Uuunderstood."

Henry really wanted to suggest that Charles extend that declaration to _beyond_ just piloting. While he may vow not to pull anything wild with his copter anymore, he could still do plenty of wacky shit OUTSIDE of it, which was a loophole Henry was certain will get exploited as soon as they're back in business.  
But before he could, he remembered that it was his turn to get berated. Whoopee.

The General swiveled to him, a knowing look on his face. "Stickmin."

He nodded sheepishly.

"I can excuse any missteps at the Wall. Most soldiers would've made the same calls as you did in the heat of the moment."

Henry warily nodded, and he squeezed Charles' hand. He dutifully squeezed back.

"However, I will have to give you a punishment for disobeying orders, and assaulting your commander to boot." Henry winced. Yeeep, there it was.  
"You'll be off missions for three weeks."

H

Huh.

Henry looked at him with wide, curious eyes.

"After you recover, you will be on unpaid hiatus for three weeks. Then, you'll be back on."

Oh.

That.. that wasn't _nearly_ as bad as Henry thought it would be. Galeforce answered his visible befuddlement.

"I can understand how your emotional response would blindsight all rationale concerning me." Then, he suddenly slammed the files facedown, startling the three.  
" _However,_ what I cannot understand nor excuse, is how your emotional response blindsighted all rationale concerning _Charlie."_

Henry blinked, shocked. _What._

"You barging into the toppat base compromised Charlie's life, Henry. And as General, I have to make sure you understand the consequences of such high-stakes errors."

"I-"

"Now don't get me wrong. I get why you would become enraged upon hearing about Charlie's more.. sensitive assault." Lord knows the General was steaming by the end of Charles' injury report. It was somewhat of a misunderstanding, but one that Charles had to put down under both the physical and mental category anyway. For good reason too; it was dragged out, and anyone else would've thought the same.

Of course, Henry didn't quite know that yet, so he whipped his head to Charles because- what the _fuck_ else would "sensitive assault" mean??? Charles had said that it didn't happen.. so why was the General just mentioning it as if it had?? Did Charles lie to Galeforce? Did he.. lie to _him?_  
Charles didn't return the look, and Henry had to turn back to the General as he continued.

"But after learning everybody's tracking, I have reason to believe your anger led to you prioritizing revenge over the hostage rescue. And I must give you a strike for that."

"I saved him-"

"ELLIE, saved him." Ooh man, that was uncomfy. Ellie was at a loss on how to respond, so she didn't.  
"To serve as a reminder: you, were supposed to stay and provide support for Rose. Without your help, she and Charlie stumbled into a room full of toppats. They both got cornered, and could've potentially gotten killed had we not already stationed soldiers inside." Henry swallowed hard, beginning to shake.  
  
"All you did, was risk their lives."

Before Henry could fully absorb and crumble at that, Charles let go of his hand and raised it.

"Permission to speak, sir?"

The General paused his chastisement. "Excuse me?"

"Permission to speak, sir."

He looked between the two. "..Look, I know you two have recently gotten involved-"

"He's not my romantic partner at present. I'll speak only as a objective unit for now."  
Ok, thank you for that entire _heart attack_ Henry _narrowly_ avoided upon the first few words, holy _crap_. Ellie had to reach over to pat his back as he inaudibly wheezed.

Galeforce tsked, hesitant. Then, "Granted."

"I was severely injured General. My ribs were broken, so I really couldn't have crawled through any vents. We would've had to bust out anyway. Stealth was no longer an option."

"It could've been, had we-"

"Sorry for the interruption sir, but.. it wasn't. The implanted soldiers would've helped, but there'd have been just as equal of a chance of me dying whether we got out that way, or if we got out with Henry first coming in as the distraction."

"You don't know that Charles." Ellie and Henry exchanged looks.

"No one can know for sure. But er, given my wounds.." He gave an apologetic look.  
"It was either Henry coming in to hunt down the leaders, basically becoming part of the distraction effort, _or_ , me and Ellie running out into the open, during a time when the army hasn't arrived yet, and all the toppats would have to do is aim well once."

The General grimaced. "It still is an issue at large, for Henry to have charged in against all orders."

"You said earlier, that his violation of direct orders--and him knocking you out--would be addressed with a three-week leave." Charles pointed out. "But here, you're additionally penalizing him with a strike, for _endangering_ me and Ellie. I'm sayin, that he didn't marginally jeopardize us otherwise."

It took Henry a good thirty seconds to compute all that he just said, and another thirty to comprehend that _holy fucking shit, Charles is going to town on the General for HIM._  
He was sooo going to kiss him after this.

"And.. besides. I uh, did get _some_ intel during my time there--"

"Do _not_ Charlie."

"I-I don't mean to say it was _worth_ it!" Charles waved his hands. "But, before.. everything, my interrogator mentioned that the clan's main source of support and revenue right now, were politicians."

The General groused at that, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh. Ohh, that'll be a headache to sort out."

"No names given but.. it's thanks to them that they've got another rocket in the works now. Location unknown."

Henry's brow flew up. Another bloody rocket? _Already?_

After munching on Charles' words for a minute, Galeforce pressed his lips together stiffly. Charles took that as a sign to keep going.

"..In the end, we got out. I'm okay. And he.. Henry sacrificed himself for me, as I did him. Lost a leg even! BOTH Ellie and Henry saved me. So, General, with all due respect..." He stood, and gestured for Ellie and Henry to do the same. They did, tentatively.

"... _salute them._ "

Ellie made an "aw shit" face to the walls, and Henry gawked at him. What in the _fuckity fuck_ was he _doing?_ _?_

The General stared at Charles, hard.

A long silence dragged out between the two sides of the desk, almost as if they were waiting to see who'd crack first, if at all.

Eventually, Galeforce stood up as well.

To Henry's absolute shock (and mild mortification), he saluted. First facing Ellie, then him. Henry had NO idea whatsoever on how to respond to that, so he just mimicked it back.

"Three weeks off Henry."

He nodded rapidly.

The General lowered his hand, then bid the three a good "meeting adjourned", before walking out of the meeting room.

It took all but ten seconds for Ellie to _lose_ her entire _mind._

_"Charles motherfuckin' Jones."_

"Last name's Calvin, but-"

"Holy SHIT dude." Ellie slumped back into her chair, and as did Henry. He was still utterly speechless, so he let Ellie do most of the explosive reacting for him.  
"Ha! That took a bit of mental gymnastics."

Charles sat down, finally cracking a small smile. "Please don't ever do what I just did." Ellie cackled. "Like- we know each other. He's not gonna stay upset at this or anything and, some pushback is necessary sometimes. But.. still. Don't."

"Christ that was so great to watch. Man, wish I could've recorded it." Ellie groaned. "Is there.. is there a camera here by chance-"

"No recording in meeting rooms."

She tsked. "Figures."

As the two winded down from that display, Charles cautiously turned to Henry, snapping him out of his daze.

"Hen, listen.. uhm, don't blame yourself for anything that happened. Kay? Nothing's your fault. Nothing." Henry's lower lip might've wobbled, _might've_ , and he leaned forward in his seat to hold Charles by the arms.

"Love you."

Charles flushed. "I-is that an ok, orrr?"

"Welp, there's my cue to bounce." Ellie slipped out her chair gracefully. "Gonna head back to the dorms. I would say to not do anything dumb here but.." She winked. "No cameras."

Charles eeped, waving her off as she left laughing. Reining himself back in, Charles resumed, "But like seriously though.. I don't want you to feel any guilt about whatever, alright?"

Henry fumbled to him, clunky cast be damned, and he managed to move unto Charles' chair instead. He could put pressure on his knees alright, since the cut was below it, so he shuffled forward till he was practically sitting on Charles' legs.

"C-come on Henry." Charles laughed weakly. "I.. I need this answer from you. Please?"

Henry held Charles' face in hands, and actually mulled over it. Over everything Charles said in defense of him. And y'know what?  
It _did_ make him feel lighter.

"Okay."

"Okay??"

"I believe in you."

Before Charles could sputter out anything else, Henry closed the gap, and kissed him.

And kissed and kissed and kissed and kissed him.

  
  
\---

  
  
Henry couldn't believe it.

After months-- _months_ \--of constantly cracking entirely unfunny sex jokes to Charles as an outlet for his painfully repressed hormones (do you know how many times their makeouts ended up with him and blue balls because SOMEBODY wouldn't dare go any further due to "doctor's orders"?? too many. too. many), now that Henry was FINALLY out of his cast, beginning his three weeks of leave, he...

Well, he was embarrassed.  
Because now he was jittery as all fuck, and he honestly had no idea whether it was due to nervousness or anticipation. The two were pretty similar.

It started with Charles returning from piloting a typical transport, right after Ellie departed for yet another visit to Russia, which Henry now ( _finally_ connected the dots!) knew were all for a certain Dr. "Vinnie".  
In the middle of watching some TV show rerun, their idle talk had somehow taken a serious turn, and Henry admitted to him that he had killed his interrogator. This led into an emotional conversation followed by an equally emotional cuddlefest (naturally), and approximately ten minutes into the inevitable makeout after the episode was over, things had gotten heated.  
  
And yes, it was wholly Henry's fault.  
Look--staying cooped up at home alone after MONTHS of rest can get anyone pent up.

Their snuggle went as it often did at first, with the two hopelessly fondling each other, then Henry almost slipping his hand up Charles' shirt undetected, until it all got completely derailed off the tracks as they tumbled off the couch. Charles tried to turn off the tv.

"Oop." Henry was still on top of him, clutching to Charles' shirt like a lifeline. Still quivery, because all throughout that session, he felt like it was finally going to _go_ somewhere, and for whatever reason, he couldn't stop. Charles immediately sat up, checking the leg.

"You good?"

"Could be better."

Of course, Charles took that as a sign to carefully pick Henry up rather than anything inherently sexual, so he had to spell it out.

"Let's go all the way."  
Charles froze, still holding Henry in a bridal carry, and he looked to him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Can't we? We're all healed up by now."

Charles chuckled. "Were you just waiting to recover so we can have sex."

"Nooo." Henry pecked his chin. "Never."

"Mhm." Charles took Henry to his room, laying him on the bed gently.  
"But, you sure you don't want to sleep instead orr..?"

Henry cocked his head. "Do you... not, want to?" Sure, Henry could respect Charles' wishes if he didn't. But he also knew Charles was in no way any LESS riled up than he was. All it really took was a quick look down.

Charles leaned in, not quite on the bed. "Course I do. But.. you're also like, shaking a bunch??"

"Oh." Right.

"So, I don't wanna do anything you feel like you're not ready f.. hold on, have you done this before?"

"I have!" Henry huffed.  
"...with a girl." Like, twice. And really, it had been a fling from a _while_ back. Again, not a very eventful (or _lucky_ for that matter) life before that whole timelining nonsense.

"Buut, never a dude?"  
Henry rolled over, burying his face into a pillow. Charles poked at him until he rolled back. "Don't worry! It's no biggie."

"What about you?"

"Uhh, honestly.. I think I've done it more times with guys than girls? Anyhow-" Charles held Henry's cheek, still warm from their makeout before. "-that doesn't matter. We can do whatever. I just wanna make sure you want it, y'know?"

Henry gestured for Charles to join him on bed, and he did. "I really do. I.." He frankly had no idea why he was so nervous, but he had an inkling.

Charles just.. mattered, to him. A _lot_. He's the first guy to really reach out to him to become a friend, and he's only gotten closer since (clearly). Aside from his hilarious and quirky antics, as well as the more stressingly wreckless ones, he was simply _good._ Good enough to literally sacrifice himself for Henry anyway. And that was more than enough to intrigue and hook Henry from the getgo, lovable personality aside.  
And he didn't want to lose that. Not ever. Not again.

...okay, so maybe Henry DID have an idea as to why he was so jittery.

Charles shambled closer, half hugging him. "Nothing'll change." And there he goes, reading his mind again.  
"Even if you um, wanted to go back to just being friends, or if you never wanted to have sex, or whatever. I'll always like you!"

w o w.  
  
Now Henry wasn't always like this, but as of late--and by that he means, since the time he accidentally walked in on a changing Charles some months back--he'd been _decently_ horny. Only worsened by the hospitalization, rendering him unable to blow off any steam via their usual missions.  
Point is: he couldn't imagine NOT getting intimate with Charles. Maybe with other partners, but not him. It was like a magnet, drawing him in day by day the more they got to express their affection physically, practically unavoidable.

So to have Charles say that he'd go without it, was not only incomprehensible, but heartwarming as FUCK and whelp Henry was already kissing him again.

Much of his worries crumbled away at his assurances, and he melted into him again, this time without the jitters.  
"Hen.." Charles pecked him several times on the nose to stop, and drew back in a grin. Henry smiled back. "Soo, you're sure?"

"Yes."

"Awesome!" Then Charles got up, moving to get something from the bottom drawer of a nearby dresser. "Since this is your first time with a guy, it's probably better if you top, right?"

Henry blinked, quirking a brow.  
It's not like he would mind or anything, but considering how his default fantasies (and many a porn search) usually ended up with him being beneath those--how to put this lightly--those motherhunking TITS, he sort of assumed otherwise.

"Is it?"

"I mean, I guess. You'd be better used to it, right? Unless, you wan-"

"I do."

"R-really?" 

Henry chuckled. "Yes and yes Charles."

"Oh.. well alrighty then! Come on, let's go."

Henry stared, nothing going on upstairs for a second. "Huh."

"Huh?"

"Where are we going?"

"The bathroom!" Helpful.

"Why?"

Charles stopped rummaging through the drawers to take out a... a thing.  
"For prep!"

More questions.

"What is that." The bizarre object looked like some sort of pump or medical contraption.

Charles raised his right hand.

"No, not that. I know that's lube."

Charles raised his left, and answered, "It's an enema thingy." So many questions. "It's not totally needed or anything, but I think it's pretty helpful. And, I'm just sorta used to hav-"

"A _what."_

"Er, an enema pump--like, you just.. fill it up with water." Charles tapped on the bulb-ish body. "Then squeeze it in the rectum to wash it out." He pointed to the thin tube sticking out of the ball.

"Ah."

"Yep. Soo, let's go?"

Henry slipped out of bed and followed him to the hall bathroom. Once inside, Charles began filling the pump with lukewarm water. He felt oddly clinical as he waited, but that feeling faded pretty quick when Charles took off his shirt after finishing.  
Believe him when he says he _tried_ to not let the biceps distract him too much.

"Wh.. we're not going to do it in here, are we?"

"Naw. We can if you want, but.. I think beds are a lot better."

"Then, why are you..?"

He turned to him, feeling out Henry's own shirt, and took it off without much resistance.  
"Well.. it might be kinda weird if you're the only one without pants on. So, might as well undress some now right?"  
Right. Henry scrambled to take his pants off, then briefly kissed Charles on the cheek for the thoughtful gesture. Charles beamed, kissing him back as he took up the enema and coated a bit of lube on the tube.

"Okay.. you might wanna just-" Charles helped position Henry against the sink so that he was bent over. Charles knelt down and gave an obnoxious smooch on Henry's ass (he rolled his eyes, hiding his flustered face) before slowly inserting the pump.

It was no wider than half his pinkie, so it wasn't really too uncomfy to Henry. He's tried fingering himself before, but he's never really had the time to purchase any other sex toys due to him being so caught up with... y'know, staying alive (and previously, stressing over keeping _Charles_ alive), so that's as far as he ever went.  
Maybe he would've experimented more before his life got turned upside down, but when you're on tense grounds with your landowner, one typically doesn't spend a dime on dildos and whatnot.

Then Charles pumped the water in, and.. _okay_ , how to begin describing it...

A bit of discomfort, obviously, and he instantly felt like clenching himself to keep anything from spilling out. It didn't shock him or anything, but _jeez_ was it weird. He felt it weigh inside of him, and soon enough Charles removed it.

"Alright, now hurry and get on the toilet." Henry did so. "Wait for like, uh.. ten seconds? Then, let it rip."

Henry snorted. "You're ridiculous."

"I try." Charles gestured to the enema again. "Just repeat the process a couple times till everything comes out clear, yeah?"  
Henry gave a thumbs up, and Charles left back to his room to offer him some privacy.  
  
To then promptly scream into the mattress.  
Not like an actual scream, come now. It was the type where you scream out air, in a sort of wheeze.

Charles thought he was doing a fairly good job of holding in any excitement (it IS part of the job description), but only barely. He wasn't new to guiding newbies into the wild west.. er, south of sex, but Henry was going to be the death of him with that unfairly adorable look he wears whenever he's confused, or trying to figure something out.  
And while prep is usually just that, it didn't stop Charles from wanting to do more than just kiss Henry's ass because _wowee_ was it plump as fuck and somehow cute at the same time and--

DOWN boy, _down._

..he was getting carried away.

Waiting in bed, it didn't take long for Henry to finish up and rejoin him on the bed with a bounce. He turned off the lights, only letting the window and dusk outside dimly brighten up the room, wackily waggling his eyebrows to make Charles laugh.  
Excluding Charles' boxers, they were both in their birthday suits, and Henry was just about ready to-

"Hey, what's with the towel?"

Charles guided Henry to sit on the towel he laid on the bed. "It's best to wait a bit before doing anything. Some water might come out a little."

"Oh.. so, how long should we wait?"

"Ehh, usually an hour's good."

Henry wanted to shake Charles back and forth. "An hour."

"We could honestly cut that down since you didn't eat much today, buuut, yeah."

"Wha-what are we supposed to do for an _hour."_ Cleaning he can understand; they technically had all the time in the world right now. But he was _naked_ and _hard_ and Charles' abs were in plain fucking view- so sue him for getting _impatient._

"Well, it depends."  
Charles then moved so that he was lying on his belly, in front of Henry. "How many times can you cum?"

Henry gulped, mouth suddenly dry from Charles looking up at him from between his legs. "Uh.." Last time he masturbated was roughly four missions ago, but he's never really thought to push himself more than just the one. "I don't know."

"Guess we can find out then." Charles pressed his lips to an inner thigh, and Henry's back fell against the pillows, surprised. Crawling up higher though, Charles made to kiss Henry again, and Henry hugged him close.

Kissing in itself was always VERY enjoyable to him, but getting to feel Charles' muscles tense against his, skin to skin, was _almost_ better. Bringing him in as near as he could, their tongues mingled lightly for the umpteenth time that day.  
Their hands went all over, Henry finally fully mapping out the lean muscles to a tee. Charles rubbed Henry's legs until they stopped jumping from the ticklish skims, then palmed his chest. Henry leant into it, almost not letting Charles break for air till he had to wrest himself away.

"Hah.. you're pretty excited."

 _Clearly._ Henry brought Charles back in with an arm behind his neck, resuming the kiss. Charles adjusted himself to lean his crotch against Henry's bare one, slowly grinding their selves together. Henry was already pretty hard before, but this got him _all_ the way up, lowly moaning as he moved his groin in return.

Now completely grown, Charles trailed his kisses downwards to Henry's cock. A fluttery kiss on the tip made Henry both flinch and laugh.  
"Get on with it.."

"You're usually so patient." Charles shook his head in a smile. "Oh- but before I forget.. what's your safety?"

Henry rose a brow. "My.. safety."

"Yeah."

Was it a bad thing if his mind went first to guns? "I thought those were just for.. y'know. Intense things."

"Eh, it's good to use for whenever. If you don't have any, we can just go with the default."

"There's a default?"

"Red for stop, yellow for slow down or wait, and green for keep going!"

He probably should've been able guess that.

"Got all that?"

Henry nodded, honestly just eager to continue. Charles understood and got right to it, lowering his head to lightly twirl his tongue on the head, slowly pumping the rest with a hand. His other hand curled around a thigh, and Henry gripped Charles' temples in a sigh, eyes closed.  
"Aah.. can't you just..." Henry chased the teasing wet tongue, and it withdrew.

"Haha, come on Henry. How're we supposed to make this last half an hour if you keep that up?"

"Don't wanna wait."

"Then.. you're sure you wanna come like, now?" Charles circled a thumb on the tip, and Henry stifled a squeak.

"Y-yeah."

"Alrighty." Then Charles abruptly--because he apparently knows only one extreme to another--swallowed Henry's entire cock in one fell swoop, and he gasped.

"Shit!" The sudden warmth encasing his dick was staggering, and Henry had to lean his head back on the cushions again. He never had any issue with his length, but having Charles engulf the entire damn thing so easily had him feeling _some_ type of way.  
A good kind.

He muffled himself with a hand when Charles repetitively enclosed his throat around the tip, lolling a tongue across the rest, and he had to very narrowly stop himself from thrusting up when Charles began to bob his head.  
Charles was almost surprised at the amount of precum coming out, and he slurped it all up noisily. Henry shakily waved a hand over to Charles' jaw, and he looked up curiously.

"I want to.." Charles nodded, going down again till his lips were pressed to the base, and Henry thrust in. Cautiously at first, but soon crumpling to helpless jolts, Henry groaned at how easily the hot, hot mouth took him, delicious gulking noises filling the room. He almost didn't notice Charles' two fingers tapping him on the arm three times, head just barely out of the clouds enough to register them.

Henry hurriedly let go, and Charles drew back in a wet pop, gasping to breathe. Henry's cock twitched at the sight of it all; liquids dribbling down his chin, that little pink poking out as he panted, and _christ_ was that Charles' boner?  
Henry curiously moved a foot to nudge it, and Charles huffed, pushing it back.

"You, are _really_ impatient." Charles caught his breath, chuckling as he wiped the spit away.

"Sorry.." He couldn't really help but want to be a little selfish here. He'd been waiting for this patiently enough, and getting to feel, see everything at last only made him want more.

"It's okay. My turn anyway." Charles moved to kick his boxers off, then shuffled onward until he was on his knees, Henry's torso in between. "Don't move or get unto your knees and stuff, aight? Just keep lying down."  
Henry aimed his neck forward, gaping.

"Shit Charles."

"Wha- oh. No don't say it."

Henry adopted a pornographic look, all lecherous and ridiculous. "You're fucking huge."

"It's--" Charles randomly gesticulated. "It's honestly not."

"You're averagely huge?" He amended.

"That. Doesn't make any sense."

It's not like Charles' dick was _monstrously_ big or whatever. Not to a scary or worrying extent. But it was decently longer than his, and Henry wanted that in him, right the fuck now, what the fuck.

"How much longer?" Henry pouted, and Charles had to look away before he got a goddamn palpitation. Already, his heart was close to imploding from all of Henry's moans throughout the blowjob. He assumed he'd be.. well, not exactly stoic. But quieter, from how he acted with most other people.

"Uhh.. not much? Probably at least, like, twenty more minutes. Actually, maybe I should've used a watch or something. Or my pho--" Henry, as much as he liked Charles' aimless rambles, cut it off with a shy lick to the cock, and Charles sucked in a breath through his teeth.  
"R-remember, tap me three times if-" _Rude_ , of Henry to interrupt him a second time, but Charles figured he got it. Henry licked a stripe up the underside, and Charles leaned back to plant his hands into the mattress.  
Henry stroked it with two hands, spreading the precum all throughout whilst twisting up, then tried to suck the upper half off. He furrowed his brow when it didn't go easy, skin not wet enough, and Charles moved forwards again, thumbing Henry's cheek.

"Just.. pretend it's a lollipop you're trying to melt?" Henry gave him a quizzical look. "I dunno man, it's a tip I heard once."  
Henry shrugged, wrapping his lips up and down the length as much as he could, lathering the cock in saliva. Charles groaned, arms moving to brace against the bed's headframe. Holding unto Charles' lower back, he went faster, his own cock straining painfully at every sound Charles made, milking on both his moans, and penis.

Then, Henry attempted to deepthroat the whole thing like Charles did, and rather immediately began to choke. Charles shivered, but quickly withdrew, petting Henry's head as he got the gags through.

"You good?" He softly wiped away any tears. "Could get you some water if you want."

Henry waved the concern off, tugging at Charles' hips to continue, and Charles giggled.

"You know this isn't like, a mission right? We can stop."

Heaven knows Henry has never shook his head harder, and Charles relented. "Ok, ok."  
Henry kneaded at the cock again, returning to suck him off. He ditched any deepthroating attempts, and instead flicked his tongue against the head sideways, two hands still stroking the rest. The more precum that gushed out, the more smoothly it went, and so on it cycled.

"Hmn- Henry.." Charles closed his eyes, threading his fingers through Henry's hair. He only played with fisting it, but what tugs Henry _did_ feel may have.. kind of.. drove him just a teensy bit _buck wild_ , and he moaned a long one into the cock.  
Charles jerked at the vibrations, and forced himself to back out.

"Whu.." Henry blinked, dazed. Charles pressed his lips together, beyond tempted.

"S-sorry. Can't come yet. But.. I can make it up to you?" He pecked the base of Henry's cock, and Henry nodded. "Okay. Just relax, alright?"  
Henry's head fell back as Charles swirled his tongue flat against the head, eyes fluttering once he took him deeper again. Like last time, it was a hot and wet wonderland of a sensation, but now with added hums, encapsulating the entire dick.

"Ch.. Charles, I--ah!" Two hands slid their way up to Henry's chest, toying with his nipples, and he twitched at every flick, opting to clutch unto the pillows as he felt himself get closer.  
Charles gulped around him quicker, all the noises growing downright immoral. "H-ah! I'm, I'm gonna.."  
Henry spread his legs a bit wider, and Charles switched over to rapidly pumping his cock with a hand, lips still wrapped around the head. Henry shakily lifted himself unto his elbows for a second, savored the image of a waiting Charles gazing up at him through lidded eyes and a hazel fringe, then came in a cascade of wanton moans.

"Aa _ahhn!!_ Fffuck, fuck-!" A slew of curses as he felt his head rush, core clenching at the rippling rings of pleasure.

"Mmn!" Charles collected everything in his mouth, his cock getting to be _achingly_ hard at seeing Henry lose himself, groaning to the ceiling as waves trembles wracked his body. He waited for Henry to stop cumming (boy had a lot to share, funnily enough) and once he lowered his back, Charles opened his mouth, letting all the cum stream on down the balls, and pool at his ass, most of it getting caught by the towel.

Henry was in the midst of catching his breath, but _fuck that_ when Charles just pulled _that_ fucking move, his tongue lapping against the wilting cock in a wet mess he could feel ooze everywhere, slick. "Jesus.."

"There wasn't much water, out on the towel." Charles commented, glancing up at him knowingly. Henry couldn't say anything before Charles lifted Henry's crotch up by the ass, groping at the fat like he'd been meaning to, then dug in.

"Oohh my ff- god!" Henry balanced himself, arms geared beneath, and his legs sporadically flinched as they dangled over Charles' shoulders, the already sopping tongue prodding at his hole hungrily. It amplified the ebbing traces of the recent orgasm back to full force, and he lurched in place when he felt some teeth graze his ass lightly.  
"Ah-! Hnnm _please!!"_ He had no clue what he was pleading for, but kept crying it anyhow as Charles ate him out.  
His cock _almost_ resurrected on its own, but Charles stopped it then, gently lowering Henry back down.

Henry panted tightly, stars hanging overhead. "Please do that forever."

Charles almost did, but he still retained _some_ will, and instead nabbed the bottle of lube from the drawer nearby.  
"I.. can start stretching you right now while you calm down?"

He was pretty sure that would do anything BUT calm him down, but Henry couldn't give any less of a damn. Dick. In him. Right now.  
Henry gave a thumbs up, head still feeling a little dizzy.

Charles nodded, pouring a generous amount of lube on his hand, warming it. As it warmed, he dragged over a random pillow to put beneath Henry's lower back, propping up his lower body.

Now, normally Henry liked being lazy, but he felt somewhat bad doing nothing but lying down for much of the fun so far.  
"Hey.. shouldn't I, change positions or something?"

Charles moved a leg to split him apart wider, then pressed the lube against his hole, massaging it. Henry whined, both at the feeling, and for Charles to answer.

"It's um, probably for the best if you stay like this? I don't want you to put any pressure on your legs if you don't need to." Charles kissed his thighs as he encircled a finger around the rim, and Henry shivered, suddenly wanting to kiss him. "Don't worry, we can try out other positions and stuff later! Maybe when we start doing missions again?"

"Kiss."  
Yes, he knows it hasn't at all been a while since they have, but fuck it, he was on the withdrawal anyway and he needed it. Charles smiled, and moved up above, meeting him as he kept coaxing a finger into Henry's hole. Henry sighed into the kiss, indulgently grabbing at Charles' breast, and he only felt a bit of discomfort at the digit sliding into him.

"Relax." Henry thought he was _plenty_ relaxed, but turns out he was wrong, because he liquified into a puddle right then and there when Charles reached an arm around his back to dig into the knots. Charles was no masseuse, but it felt great to him nonetheless.  
"Gee, maybe we should've gone to the spa with Ellie after all."

Henry huffed, craning his neck back as another finger entered him. It softly scissored him, soon moving on to stretching him wider, probing.

"Does it hurt?"

Henry gave a so-so motion with a hand. "Not really. Just feels sorta weird."

"Yeah, that about sums it." Then he added a _third_ finger, and that's when Charles latched onto Henry's neck to distract him.

"Ah.." Henry fiddled with Charles' hair as he sucked a hickey low on his collarbone. The three fingers had a slight burn to them as they pumped inside of him.  
Henry liked to think himself as a fairly adaptable person though, and he bucked back on the fingers soon enough. "Mm.. come on. I'm ready."

"You sure?" Henry groaned, and Charles giggled. "Fine, fine. Just- hold on a bit."  
He has held on _enough_ already, and he tried moving again in a grumble, which prompted Charles to pin his waist down with a hand.  
"I said hold on." Well, _hello_ new boner, where have YOU been? There's another hot piece of life to file away in the spank bank.  
  
Charles must've taken Henry's shocked face for something else, and added, "Pretty please?"  
Henry swallowed hard, nodding. Charles' fingers began to squirm around in him a little, which didn't feel awfully strange or anything, but it cert--  
  


oh.

  
Blinking, Henry gathered his wits, looking down bewilderedly. It happened again, and he exhaled harshly without meaning to. It.. felt like a bundle of nerves just got slightly nudged against, peculiarly subtle. It wasn't very localized either; a thin veil of pleasure falling through his entire body, like some kind of oddly promiscuous spirit.

"I think that's it." Charles removed the fingers, then applied some more lube to his cock. "Still remember the safety? Just in case." Henry gave him an exasperated look.

"Traffic lights."

"Yeah." Charles chuckled. Sitting up, he set Henry's legs around him, rubbing his tip against the wet hole. Henry licked his lips, biting them as Charles glided in _agonizingly slow_. The burn doubled, but it wasn't severe, and Charles gave him a minute to adjust to it. "Color?"

"What's more than green. Blue??"  
Charles laughed, leaning forwards to cage Henry in with his arms.

"Okayy, if you say so." Charles devoured Henry's gasp with his mouth as he gave a slight buck, undulating inside halfway. Henry wrapped his arms around Charles' neck, pushing back on Charles' tongue as he felt the entire length gradually fill him inside, hot meeting sweltering hot.

Give this pilot a trophy of resilience, because it was only _now_ that he finally let up some restraints, rolling his hips forward in a moment of weakness. Henry's nails scratched at his neck as he steadily went faster, lifting Henry's waist up with both hands to level him better.

Henry stopped the kiss to bump his forehead against Charles', eyes shining. "Closer, closer."  
His heart swelled at the embrace, desperately wanting to _merge_ into him, if that made any sense. He just had to hug him tighter, burrow into his everything, and he wrapped his legs around Charles in a squeeze.

Charles still held unto his waist, but obliged by laying his head against the pillows, mouthing at Henry's jaw as he pressed their chests, entire torso really, together. All of Henry's moans, now directed straight into his ears, really didn't help his self-constraint, and so Charles picked up the pace, lunging in quicker.  
He tried not to go too deep though, giving more shallow jabs upwards, stimulating Henry's prostate as much as he could.

Maybe his vision was blurring, maybe not, but Henry was about to go _insane_ either way. This felt so entirely new; this unearthly limbo he was suspended in, on the cusp of orgasm, but constantly. It was both slightly frustrating, and _devastatingly_ good. Prostate swollen, he could actually feel it twitch and throb minutely as Charles kept jabbing into it spot on.

"A-agh! Fffuck, Charles, it.. it feels-" His entire body, strangely starting from the ends of his limbs, was on fire. It sizzled beneath his skin, heat traveling from all over to his head, and it was driving him crazy because it was _unrelenting_. 

"Nng-!" Charles was right all along, because Henry really WAS fire both inside and out, holy _shit._ He hadn't felt this hot and sweaty in sex for a long while. "You're doing good. S-so good, god."

Henry keened, back arching him up into Charles' chest, equally sweaty, and that made him _lose_ it.  
"Henry, can I go harder." Henry couldn't even nod, mind too foggy with rapture, and Charles grunted. "Henry.."

He broke, ramming in briskly, and Henry screamed. He was getting so hot.

"I'm going to die." Henry rasped, almost unable to handle it all. From Charles slapping into him exceedingly deep, to that constant, buzzing heat simmering, beginning to collect in his cock, the only thing keeping Henry from fainting was Charles' own fond eyes, taking all of him in.

"You want me to stop?"

"Don't you dare."

Closer, closer, _closer,_ Henry sealed his lips against Charles', grasping at his back as he started to plunge into him erratically, faster, "I love you", no idea who the hell said that, but frankly it didn't matter, because good fuck was it true, both the intense fervor of lust and evermore intense _love_ surging in his chest, and it hurt, and he was never going to give this up, no fucking way, and--

Whoa, did everything just flicker for a second? He better not black out _now_ or so help him- wait, wait no, that was just him blinking.

Charles jolted in a gasp, growling into the sheets as he quickly took himself out and spilt the rest out unto Henry's abs. As Charles came, Henry blearily looked down and realized that he already came too, a second time. He just thought he just peed or some shit, but turns out squirting felt pretty much exactly that.  
Henry kept holding onto Charles, very much enjoying the guttural groans from above.

Climbing down from climax, Charles relaxed bit by bit, collapsing besides an equally worn out Henry. He blindly grabbed at the towel, halved it, wiped away Henry's belly to the best of his fatigued ability, then balled it up to throw unto the floor. Henry would've commented on the carpet and whatnot, but his throat was semi-sore from yells he didn't even hear, and so he pulled the blankets over them instead.

Legs instantly tangling together, Charles shifted near till they settled into their usual cuddle, caressing each other tenderly. Their pants slowly dissipated to labored breathing, and Henry nuzzled a cheek on Charles' chest, feeling the heartbeat eventually calm down too.

"..We should take a shower."

"Mrm."

Henry kissed Charles' throat, before nestling his head tiredly there.

"That was some sex."

Charles laughed quietly, exhausted, and pecked Henry's head back. "Did you like it?"

"I.. loved it." A little too much. The whole experience was ethereal, almost. "Like, I might be addicted now."

"Oh boy."

"I love you."

Charles redirected his kisses to Henry's lips, all smiles. "I love you too."

"I love you more."

"Dooon't start-"  
  


Henry woke up the next day, with a _supremely_ sore bottom, and a post-it on his face from Ellie, the smuggest face he's ever seen scribbled unto it with her trademark red pen. Charles was up already, because of course he was, but he remained curled up around him in bed.

He was whispering about things like Ellie returning (as if the sticky note wasn't proof enough), about the hot shower awaiting them, about breakfast, about a lot of things.  
And all he could do was kiss him on the cheek, missing the mouth by an inch, thinking, hey, he wouldn't mind it one bit if he woke up like this every morning.  
Not at all.

And maybe, just maybe, despite all the tribulations and such, him sticking it out with his choice of this route, an ending turned bright beginning, riches to love, riches _in_ love--turned out, to be the greatest plan after all.

  
Fin <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY. HOLY SHIT AAA FINALLY.
> 
> a moment to say thanks to everyone who read/commented/enjoyed this fic. this was one hell of an endeavor. i am never writing another THSC fic as long as this again. muah <3
> 
> ALSO--aftermath chapter coming soon! i didn't set up that chekhov's gun with the CCC for nothing ;>


	18. finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this. THIS was what this whole entire fic was meant to be from the start!  
> It was just supposed to be a quick bit of crack comedy w/ a silly kidnapping and then a ton of fluff. THAT'S IT.
> 
> But ohh noooo, my stupid angsty brain just HAD to think, didn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> made some triple threat art about how i'd like to think they look like now! :D
> 
> https://twitter.com/FuchsiaTwit/status/1368870837961379840
> 
> not much of a change, but eh

Ten Years Later

\---

  
It's been a decent while since the last time Henry woke to a Sunday morning in anything OTHER than Charles' arms, or at the very least, their bed while Charles was off making a racket in the kitchen, bathroom, wherever.  
If he had to guess, last time was probably when Ellie got positively shitfaced at some local bar, and Henry had to make sure she didn't wreak havoc upon the capital while Charles and Dr. Vin were off in their respective fields for a weekend.  
Long story.

 _This_ however, was decidedly not as comfy; stuck in this bizarre glass tube like he was some sort of interesting specimen.  
Taking a look around the bright and awfully familiar space, he appeared to be in a fairly vast, empty room, save for some nearby set up equipment he's never seen before in his life.

Oh, and a big old CCC logo up on the wall. Sure.

"Ah good, you're awake."

Henry stood up, searching for the speaker just so that he could roll his eyes directly in front of him.  
Of COURSE he couldn't go on and live his stupid suburban life peacefully without _another_ kidnapping. Not counting any other routes, this was technically his third time getting kidnapped, but really, that's still a _lot._  
  
Fitting, for the CCC to be the one to do it though. After getting plucked up by the government, then the Wall, then (in another path) the Toppat Clan, why _not_ complete the set, right?  
Hopefully, third time would be the charm, and any more potential kidnappings from whoever would kindly _fuck off_ for the rest of time.  
  
Turning to his right, Henry found the voice in question: a typical looking CCC employee. There were a few others scattered about, behind some monitors and computers, but that was about it.

Now, this employee in particular, knew he was _probably_ breaking a bunch of protocol in going out of his way to kidnap this anomaly.. but he had to.  
  
Because _christ,_ was this anomaly an annoying one.

Ever since this specific blip got unto their radar, it would ring under his division whenever something out of the ordinary happened. Which, eventually almost became ordinary with how much it constantly dinged on his workspace--and frankly, he'd gotten sick and tired of it.

So here he was, about to get some answers to FIX this anomaly, because that's what the CCC did anyway. Usually. Sometimes.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions. We do too." He walked over to the containment, where Henry idly looked up and down the ends, both attached to the ceiling and ground. "Do refrain from trying to escape. See, we know you've had a history with jumping timelines."

Henry looked mildly interested at that, but he's already heard too much technical jargon about it by Dr. Vin to really care. While her specialty is in cybernetics, she also _loves_ spacetime theories to a fault, and went so fucking ham on him after finding out, that he figured he'd be better off not understanding any of it.

"And we ended it, after correcting the multiverse imbalance. That meter typically fills up every several decades and so, and we had to clear it any.." The employee blinked, knocking a finger against the glass.  
"Hey, are you listening?"

Henry jerked up, scratching his ear. "You sent the cake. Got it."

"What- you--??" Baffled, he turned around for a second to give an incredulous look to his underlings. They just shrugged.  
Spinning back around, "First off, how did you know that? And secondly, I thought you didn't talk??"

"Had another run in with the CCC before. Found out through some other people." Henry leaned against the glass, giving up on trying to break out, and crossed his arms. "And, normally I wouldn't speak up, but dammit- I had an important dinner tonight."  
A _big_ dinner. Granted, Henry forgot what the event was over, and maybe that was because he got knocked out cold in the brains _as always_ , but he knew it was really special.

"I.. I see. Well, just answer our questions, and you'll be out of here in no time."

The employee picked up a clipboard off a desk close by, flipping through the notes.

"Now, these new anomalies weren't as strong as the ones before, but they're just noticeable enough to come under our attention. Do you have any clue as to what would be the cause?"

Henry was scratching his ear again, a strange expression on his face.

The employee waited for a minute, then loudly cleared his throat.

"Huh?"

"I _asked_ what the cause of this new string of anomalies were. They happen at the most random places, at the most random times, with virtually no pattern to them! That's why it took so long for anyone to properly track you down.. well, that and, your case was far below other more impending ones... but I bumped it up. So tell me- are you kidding me."

Henry was spacing out _again_ and the employee was at his wit's ends. He snapped his fingers angrily. "Will you just answer me already? Or would you prefer we solve this issue with your permanent erasure instead?"

Stretching out a leg, Henry pretended to think. Death threats were fairly common in any enemy confrontation the Triple Threat had to deal with, so he typically filtered it out as white noise if it didn't seem imminent.  
When they were directed to him anyway. Threaten Charles or Ellie, or anybody else in his close circle, and they were sure to eat metal in the next 24 hours.  
  
Their missions had long since been more focused on foreign affairs after their last major encounter with the toppat clan.

True to Ellie's prediction, ever since Henry's display at their final stronghold, they've been.. a bit more wary of clashing with them directly again. After another showdown concerning their rocket, they took their affairs overseas, but for the most part, even those were rather diluted. Henry suspected Reginald and his right hand man either took it underground, or were chilling on some tropical island and sipping punch.  
Either way, they didn't try fucking with them again.  
  
Galeforce had them do a couple wild goose chases over the clan for a year or two, before finally deciding that they weren't a high level threat anymore.. wait a second.  
Hold on, was _he_ what tonight's dinner was all about?  
  
Henry _had_ been hearing rumors of the General thinking about retirement, but he had his doubts. It's not like the guy was senile or anything. Mandatory retirement would be somewhere in the early 60s, but he was still rocking his early 50s okay, and--

"Oh for goodness' sake, will you please just focus!" Whup.

Henry relented, waving his hands. "Sometimes, I have to pick choices. And I see them play out."

"..that's it? No time jumping, or branching alternate universes??"

Rubbing his chin, Henry recalled the last time his funky little power let him peek at the future. They'd been getting more and more sparse as the years went by. Not to brag but, they'd been getting pretty darn solid with missions. Last time they failed was around four years ago, in Germany.  
"I did have to choose between getting a cat or dog some months ago.."

The employee was going to kill himself. "You.. you mean to say that ALL those notifications were about trivial matters such as that?!"

Henry huffed, adopting a pet was a _big_ deal, excuse you. Besides- he was _stressed_ at the time, alright? It was a VERY tough decision (they ended up getting both).   
And sure, most of his "visions" would occur more often in risky missions and such, but.. he didn't have to tell him that.

The employee rubbed his temples, beyond exasperated. He walked over to his employees for a minute, murmuring as Henry kept scratching at his ear all the more furiously for who the fuck knows why, and then he came back.

"Well, I'm afraid we have no choice but to contain this anomaly with a standard HL3, and--"

"Wait, what?" Henry's sudden voice cut him off, and he harshly sighed.

"I didn't even say what we were goi-"

"No- _no_ , don't you dare do it, I swear to god."

Now beyond puzzled, the employee opted to walk closer than finish his spiel, and..

"Crap."  
Henry had been talking into an earpiece this entire time. "Open the cell, and keep your weapons trained on him. Dammit, I thought I told you to search him before.. befo- does anybody else hear that?"

It was like the broken air conditioning was starting to hum back to life again. Except, it was getting louder.. and louder, and louder--

The cell opened, and Henry instinctively rolled out to the corner of the room. Before anybody could react, or shoot him, the entire wall collapsed in a crash-tacular crumble as an _entire fucking helicopter rammed into the building._

Henry was out of harm's way, besides getting spewed with a sudden gust of dust and pebbles. Couldn't say the same for all the other employees. Pretty sure one or two of them got smushed by the landing skids.  
He actually would've been safer in the glass tube, as his _idiotic_ husband did miss it, crashing just a couple meters off to the right of it. But he needed to be out and about so that the very first thing Charles would get as soon as he exited the chopper was a punch.

"Ow!"  
Like he said, soon as Charles hopped out the front windows of the poor vehicle (though, by his standards, it wasn't THAT awfully damaged, nor was the crash as huge. walls must've been thin) Henry sprinted up to him and smacked his chest.  
"Um, you're _welcome._ Gee, I come to rescue my husband, and this is the thanks I get?"

"We could've gone a full five years without another crash of yours." Henry groaned.

"I mean, to be fair, the last time shouldn't count cause a missile took out the rotor." Charles chuckled, then stopped when Henry gave him a _look_. "Well er, I think a kidnapping is worth breaking that streak, don't you?"

" _More importantly,_ you could've gotten hurt."

"Aw, babe. You love me."

 _Obviously_. Hiding a smile, Henry pulled Charles in for a quick kiss. "There. Happy?"

"Very." Charles hummed, taking out a pistol. "Though.. I think you could thank me better than that?"

Charles began searching through the rubble, kicking some cement chunks over.

"Maybe later.. what are you doing?"

"Who's the one who kidnapped you?"

Henry gestured loosely to the employee in charge, who was crumpled on the ground from the impact, a couple overturned tables away. He was still awake though, just pretending to be unconscious. Dude wasn't very good at concealing his breathing.

"Oh, ok. Cool." Charles loaded his gun, and the sound made the employee startle.

"W-wait!! Don't shoot!"

"Why not?" Charles pointed the gun, waiting.

"Charles.." Henry muttered, nudging him. "It's fine. He literally just talked the whole time."

"..How do we know it won't happen again?" Well, Henry assumed there wasn't really anybody else _to_ kidnap him anymore. Unless he somehow royally pissed off some other faction he was unaware of, but really, he figured this was finally it.

"I-I swear we won't." The employee gulped, scooching back a little. "I promise, we'll just delete his signal and files. It w-wasn't a big deal anyway."

"You pinkie promise?"

"W..what?"

Charles walked over to him, knelt down, and held out an amicable pinkie. Righteously bewildered, the employee shakily returned the pinkie, and they shook on it.

"Alrighty then!" His voice was rather cheery as he put back his gun, but his eyes were trained on the employee in a silent threat, despite the wide grin. The employee shivered, crossing his heart for good measure.

Bouncing back up, Charles turned around to Henry. "I think he's good. Let's go."

Leaving the traumatized fella, the two walked off to the exit door, which led to a long flight of stairs. Charles led them downward, and Henry tsked. "You gave him the look, didn't you."

"Mmmaybe?"

Henry shook his head in a smirk, linking their hands as they reached what Henry assumed to be the ground floor. "Say.. don't you think this place looks a little..."

"Familiar? Yeah, it's uh.." Charles rubbed his neck. "Don't freak, but, it's that place."

Henry rose a brow. Descriptive that.

"It's.. y'know, _that_ warehouse? Met Vin for the first time after."

Oh.

The two opened a back door exit to the whole place, and sure enough, back in Canada they were. Henry.. didn't know what to feel about being back here after so long.  
It was oddly bittersweet. Not too far off, they shared their first full on kiss and confessed. A little further underground though, well...

"Been a while."

"Yep." Charles took out a phone, likely sending some messages for another helicopter to pick them up.

Henry stared at the abandoned building, a strange tug at his gut, drawing him toward it.  
"Think I could use the bathroom here while we wait?"

"Uhh.. I mean, sure. But, only cause I already scanned the rest of the building. Aside from those guys upstairs, it's totally empty."

Henry nodded, strolling back inside. Once the door closed, he sprinted.

Down, down, down.

Because sure, it was a long shot, and sure, Charles and Henry had (reluctantly) been taking therapy some years back, admittedly helping a lot, and sure, Charles _says_ he's all okay now, and maybe he was too, but Henry _still didn't know what happened_ , and..

..he let his curiosity take over for a bit, and descended down the stairs until he reached the very bottom, repeating to himself that he was _just going to check, that's all._  
  
Much of his memories of the place were blurred, blindsighted by rage and confusion, but he did remember the sight of a half broken down camera, in the same room Charles was held at.  
He couldn't have bothered to pick it up then, and it never crossed his mind as anything significant after the whole fiasco, chalking it off to be unsalvagable. But, now that they were here.. he, might as well... right??

He was bullshitting himself, and Henry knew it, but he went all the way anyhow and stepped into the dust caked room, the door creaking open from a decade's worth of rust and--fuck, it was _still_ there.

Henry beelined to the recorder, body automatically bending down, and soon as he touched it, his entire body froze as his mind went haywire.

_What the shit are you doing? You've been married for five years now. What is WRONG with you!_

He gripped the camera tighter, suddenly dizzy with all the regret, overwhelming curiosity, the need to know--

_You don't NEED to know. Respect his wishes. He'll tell you when he wants to._

_But it's been a whole decade since it happened! He'll never fill me in on it._

_He doesn't have to._

The SD card would, hypothetically, still be intact inside.

_Don't. Take it._

Henry didn't know why, but he was torn to pieces. That vision power thing he had would've be _real_ helpful right about now, but nothing came up. Figures.  
  
He'd been terribly curious for the first few years after everything settled, though he'd managed to set it aside to the far back corners of his mind for Charles' sake.  
Whenever he tried asking, Charles would just wave it off, deeming it unimportant. And so after failing for a year, he simply gave it up and they never had to tread upon the topic again, shifting his focus more to other things.

Like their missions, for one. Or their dates. Or their sex life. Or their teasing about Ellie's crush, and all the stupid shenanigans they got up to because of it. Moving out. Picking houses (they got a house not too far off from the capital, and Ellie apparently was a penthouse type of gal). Parties. Drunken times with off-duty soldiers. Ellie _finally_ asking Vin out. Their weekly gatherings. Charles proposing in the most predictable way possible by having it spelled out in clouds by jets at sunset, the wedding, the _wild_ afterparty, their sex life was honestly rather prolific now that Henry thought about it, Ellie's more humanitarian efforts as she went more global (didn't see that one coming. then again, that doctor did know how to work miracles), adopting a dog and cat, for Charles and Henry respectively because they were practically their animal incarnations, more missions, Vin scolding them for the umpteenth time, terrible baking, and _wow_ the years just flew by didn't they?

In a throw that was almost painful, Henry slammed the camera back down to the ground in a crack, then whipped out his gun to shoot at it. 32 times.  
Not stopping till it was splintered to smithereens, he returned his gun in a heave, closing his eyes.

Henry loved him way too much to do that to him.

He glared at the now _utterly_ destroyed recorder, beyond all repair, then turned around in a long sigh, feeling.. somewhat lighter, having let that go.  
The urge took him by storm, but.. he knew he would've regretted it had he let it fully take over. Trust and all.

Making his way back up to the ground level, he found Charles already inside another helicopter, waiting.  
Jumping inside, Henry sensed that Charles knew what he was up to, but he said nothing of it. Henry sidled closer, pecking him on the cheek.

"Hey, you missed the whole show."

"Hm?"

"General just finished calling me to yell about how they had to clean up the uh, tiny mess I made."

"Told you not to do it."

"It wasn't thaaat risky. I mean, could you even really call that a crash? It was more of a bump."

Henry snorted, changing the subject, because arguing about the logistics and levels to helicopter collisions was a lost cause with Charles. "Where are we headed now? Wasn't there that dinner..?"

"Uh-huh! It's in a couple hours. The doc's finally gonna do it."

"Do... what?"

Charles stared at him. "Don't.. don't tell me you forgot Vin's going to propose today?"

"..."

"..."

"No."

  
  
\---

  
  
They made it to the restaurant on time, because they knew Vin would kill them if they weren't punctually there to help make sure she didn't lose her nerves.  
A lot of people were present, many of which Henry recognized. A lot more than he expected.

They've all gotten to know a good handful of folks throughout their years of agent work, and as every single one of em whooped and cheered till the tables rocked once Ellie tearfully accepted the ring (then eliciting even more boisterous laughter as she pulled out a ring of her own, because _of course_ she planned ahead too), Henry couldn't help but lean into Charles as they watched, beyond fondly.

"Oh man.." Charles sniffed as the two shared a big ole smooch. "Ellie's so going to panic when it's time to plan the wedding."

"Like we did."

"Absolutely."

They glanced to each other at the same time, like clockwork, and Henry moved in for a deep kiss, grinning through it.

"You're pretty kissy today." Charles laughed as he pulled back. "But, you know we're still gonna have to tell them about you getting kidnapped today, right?"

"It wasn't even at our home."

"Still. If they find out some other way, you'll get grilled."

"Let's just go over there first to congratulate before everyone floods them." Charles grabbed Henry's hand just as he started to walk.

"Hold up. Just.. real quick." Henry cocked his head. "So uh, earlier. Seeing that place again sorta, reminded me of something. And, I know it was kind of a long time ago, but I think-"

"You don't have to tell me anything."

Charles took a moment to absorb that, holding a hand up to his cheek. Not like Henry was ever subtle in doing his best to guide related conversation to learning about Charles more, including that _incident_ so very (yet not at all) long ago, so.. this was different. "Look, maybe.. I want to."

Another kiss. "Later?"

"Yeah." Charles smiled, entangling their fingers as they started to head toward the newly engaged couple, who were cracking open some complimentary bottle of champagne that they'll most certainly regret Monday morning. "Later."

And the night sped by, both fast and slow, till everyone trickled off and they dropped off their tipsy family back home, returning to their own.  
Returning to hushed whispers, happy sighs, and (the best ever I tell you) cuddles, leaving Henry to inevitably wonder at what else the future had in store for them all.

He supposed that, whatever it was, if it had anything to do with him feeling this outpour of love, flooding his chest as they hugged closer, and then closer again, it'd be more than enough for him.  
And then some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a special note to Bluewolftail for commenting on every chapter since the very beginning, I added in the CCC just for you eyyy <3
> 
> also--PEOPLE DREW FANART??? And I mean, if I had a nickel for everytime it happened, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice:
> 
> https://twitter.com/passageoftimes/status/1356475059867648000  
> @bluewolftail on instagram
> 
> thanks again y'all for reading! 💞


End file.
